COURT of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer, who made damning allegations of judicial corruption in an affidavit this week, can request witness protection if he feels it is necessary, said Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The ministry will then assess the request, said Muhyiddin when asked by reporters about the matter today.

However, he said he does not think witness protection for the judge is necessary at the moment.

“I don’t think things have reached that stage yet. If he feels he needs it, he can lodge a report with police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“Then, we will assess if witness protection is warranted,” he told reporters in Kajang after accompanying the Pakatan Harapan candidate file nomination papers for the Semenyih by-election.

Hamid, in a 63-page affidavit filed on Thursday, revealed that top judges in the Federal Court swindled public funds by collaborating with private parties to obtain favourable judgments and compensation in cases where the government breached project contracts.

He said some top judges were regularly briefed by government officials to ensure that certain cases were decided in Putrajaya’s favour, citing Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal at the Court of Appeal in his sodomy case as an example.

Hamid said these judges feared for their positions when PH won federal power in the 14th general election, but now, things are “business as usual”.

He filed the affidavit in support of a suit by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, who is seeking a court declaration that the chief justice failed to act on cases of judicial interference.

The judiciary has lodged a police report over Hamid’s claims “to preserve public confidence in the institution”, said the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court in a statement issued yesterday evening. – February 16, 2019.