KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): A heated verbal bout ensued between a former Malaysian Bar president and senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah in a public forum discussing the nation’s pardon system on Tuesday.

It involved the case of the late former culture, youth and sports minister Datuk Mokhtar Hasim which Shafee brought up in explaining the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s use of his power in granting pardons as a form of mercy.

“The prerogative for mercy was used on him. Initially he was pardoned for the death sentence. But later on, due to the ageing factor he was then given house arrest and finally released completely. That was the case of Mokhtar Hashim,” Shafee said at the forum entitled 'Justice and Mercy: A Forum on Reforms to the Pardons Board in Malaysia'.

Later, as the forum opened the floor for questions, former Malaysian Bar president and veteran lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon hit out at Shafee over his claims on the grounds of Mokhtar’s pardon.

“You (Shafee) should stop misleading the audience...I was there during the [Mokhtar Hashim] case...stop giving incorrect information. If I am not mistaken, the case was in 1982...Where were you at that time?" he said, capturing the attention of the audience.

Shafee, in response, said he was merely reiterating information he had obtained from a “recently retired prison officer” and did not understand why Manjeet was criticising him.

“What I have just told this hall is [something] I have learned from the record office of the prison through a recently retired prison officer," said Najib's lead lawyer.

“Who cares whether I was in the trial or not, because that’s not relevant. We’re talking about post-trial — whether he (Mokhtar) got pardoned or not. On record I have been told by this officer, and from the record Mokhtar Hashim got a pardon, that’s it,” he added.

Manjeet, however, pointed out that the information Shafee provided was not factually verifiable.

“The man stands up and he says ‘I wave something, I see a seal’ (a reference to official documents on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pardon decision) and I’m supposed to believe him. The man says ‘the man was sick, a prison officer tells me’ and I’m supposed to believe him.

“Look, forums are where we present information which can be factually verified. Most of you here are lawyers, and we all work on information that we can verify," said Manjeet.

The former Bar president also encouraged the lawyers' association to act against the partial pardon granted to Najib.  

“[Najib] deserved to get what he got. What he will get again in the forthcoming cases is a different matter.

"What the Bar Council (Malaysian Bar's executive arm) decides is up to the Bar Council. If as [Malaysian Bar president] Karen [Cheah Yee Lynn] says, a review that this (Najib's partial pardon) isn’t particularly right, you want to go forward, by all means, go forward, challenge it," he said. “The Bar Council has to stand up for this and make it a point. Go and challenge it."

Mokhtar was sentenced to death in 1983 for the murder of Datuk Mohamad Taha Talib, the then-speaker of the Negeri Sembilan legislative assembly.

This was then commuted to life imprisonment, and later he was released from prison in 1991 following a royal pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.