CARETAKER law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has chided the Malaysian Bar for questioning the impartiality of the special task force (STF) which investigated the allegations made by Tommy Thomas in his book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

He said that their accusations against the panel were baseless and inaccurate.

Wan Junaidi said the STF had invited the Malaysian Bar to participate in the consultation session so as to ensure that all parties’ views were taken into consideration in preparing the report.

He said, the Malaysian Bar, however, had declined the invitation for the consultation session with the panel.

“As such, casting a negative perception on the impartiality of the STF members is completely baseless,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah questioned the impartiality of the panel that investigated the claims in Thomas’ book.

She said that caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had admitted that he declassified the report so that it could be used as political “ammunition” to attack the opposition.

“Such blatant admission, if true, begs the question of good faith in the establishment of the special task force and whether the report was non-partisan and reliable,” Cheah had said.

Wan Junaidi said the Malaysian Bar should have been forthright and given their views on the various allegations identified by the STF.

“To refuse participation and then question the impartiality of the STF and its members should not be the Bar’s way to confront issues of this kind.

“I must stress that the methodology used, issues analysed, the stakeholders involved in the consultation session as well as those who had refused to participate have all been listed in the report.

“This clearly shows that the STF had conducted the job in a responsible, transparent and impartial manner.”

He said the panel had also submitted its recommendations for improvements in various areas, such as the judiciary and the legal system, for further consideration of the government.

The STF was established by the cabinet on December 22 last year to fact find and analyse information on the allegations stated by Thomas in his book.

The findings were then reported to the cabinet on September 30.

Wan Junaidi said the members of the STF had carried out the mandate entrusted to them with full commitment, responsibility and free from any form of intervention.

“All findings obtained were based on the 19 consultations conducted by the STF among the various stakeholders.

“The STF had also looked into the various documents that were provided by the relevant agencies,” he added. – October 27, 2022.