FBI Rejects Lingam Clip – Going to HK for Analysis; 2 ACA Officials taking Clip Personally for Check on Doctoring of Images; Voice comparison

FBI Rejects Lingam Clip – Going to HK for Analysis; 2 ACA Officials taking Clip Personally for Checks on Doctoring of Images; Voice comparison & possible identification of person talked to

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Whistleblower is in Lingam tape II Bede Hong | Oct 18, 07 6:47pm and the latest

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Why is FBI rejecting this video clip for analysis? The "crimes" committed by those involved in th Clip are far worst than what the hard core criminals id. It would be difficult to ascertain the person talked to as the Clip is not capable to pick up the receiver voice. Circumstantial evidence on spoken contents would suffice for a conclusion iand it point to the one & only CJ.

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NST Online ;2007/10/19
Video clip probe: Video clip to be sent to Hong Kong for analysis
By : V. Anbalagan

KUALA LUMPUR: The Anti-Corruption Agency is sending the video clip of a lawyer purportedly in conversation with a top judge about judicial appointments, to experts in Hong Kong. A reputable institution there will examine the video clip to determine its authenticity. Sources said two ACA officers would head for the island in the next few days to hand over the video clip and other supporting documents to the organisation for analysis. The institution was recommended to the ACA by the Independent Commission for Anti-Corruption in Hong Kong.
The analysis is expected to be completed by the end of the month. “We will personally hand over the video clip and documents and collect them when the analysis is done to ensure the chain of evidence is not broken,” the sources said.

The ACA is rushing to get the video clip analysed because the agency is to brief the three-man independent panel on Oct 29 on whether the contents in the tape were doctored. The panel, chaired by former chief judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamad Noor, was established to determine the authenticity of the video clip and has been tentatively given until Nov 8 to submit its findings to the government. Sources said the ACA had earlier approached the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyse the video clip after the panel was set up on Sept 26, but the US organisation declined since it was not part of evidence involving a violent crime. The analysis would include whether the image of the lawyer in the video clip was doctored or not, a voice comparison of the lawyer and whether the identity of the person the lawyer is talking to could be ascertained. “The experts will attempt to enhance the voice of the person on the other end of the line with sophisticated equipment and technology,” the sources added. The eight-minute video footage which was released on Sept 18 has since been widely circulated on the Internet.

ACA deputy director-general Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed confirmed that the video clip would be sent overseas for analysis but declined to elaborate. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the independent panel would have to depend on ACA investigations if no one volunteers to provide information on the authenticity of the video clip. “The panel does not have the power to investigate unless it gets the consent of the attorney-general.” He said this in response to news reports that not a single person had approached the panel’s secretariat to shed light into the authenticity of the tape “We should not dismiss the panel. They should be given a chance to carry out their task and produce a report.” Nazri, however, expressed hope that those with personal knowledge about the video clip would come forward as the panel was set up to “get to the bottom of the matter

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'Deep throat' duo agree to testify if ...

Llew-Ann Phang, TheSun

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18, 2007): The two sources of an eight-minute video clip showing a senior lawyer purportedly lobbying a high-ranking judge in a phone conversation have agreed they will openly testify about the video if a royal commission is set up. Sim Tze Tzin, who is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political coordinator, said both "X and Y" agreed to cooperate only if there was legal immunity as one of them appears in the full 14-minute version of the video. Speaking ina press conference today in the PKR headquarters, Sim would not say if "X and Y" actually recorded the phone conversation or were just the persons who passed on the recording to PKR in mid-September. "X and Y (are) the only people that I know and if the commission is set up, we will bring them forward to testify. They have agreed to," he said.

On Sept 20, Sim and PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to investigate the contents of the video after it was screened at a PKR press conference a day earlier. On Oct 4, the ACA told Sim and Sivarasa they must reveal their sources or face a jail term of two years or a fine of RM10,000 or both. However, no action has yet to be taken against either Sim or Sivarasa for not doing so. Sim today questioned the investigations of the three-man panel headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor which are reliant on the ACA and police. He questioned why the panel have yet to question the persons in the video or Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who was mentioned in the recorded conversation. Sim also called for Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim’s tenure, which ends on Oct 31, not to be extended in the light of the video recording. PKR information head Tian Chua also said the party was more than willing to provide the additional six minutes of the recording if the royal commission was set up.

PKR secretary-general Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and treasurer-general William Leong, PAS central committee member Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad and DAP national publicity secretary Teresa Kok also requested for a royal commission and for investigations to be on corruption in the judiciary, instead of identifying the sources of the clip. "The formation of a commission is crucial to return the judiciary’s independence and if this is not done, the public’s now shaky confidence in the administration will not improve. "The panel’s investigations should be transparent and the government should stop hunting down the whistle blower," Syed Azman said, expressing confidence that many would come forward to cooperate in investigations if a royal commission was established. Kok said she was surprised the panel was relying on the ACA’s investigations instead of meeting with the persons implicated in the video. "Why is the panel not calling (Datuk) V.K. (Lingam – the lawyer seen in the video clip)," she questioned, urging for the prime minister’s intervention.
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Friday October 19, 2007, STAR

Nazri: We must verify video clip; By SHAHANAAZ HABIB

KUALA LUMPUR: There is a need to first verify the authenticity of the video clip featuring a prominent lawyer purportedly brokering the appointment of judges before there can be any investigation into the judiciary or formation of a royal commission of inquiry, said Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz. The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said it was therefore important for those with information on the video to come forward and assist the independent panel set up by the Government to investigate if the video was genuine. “It’s one step at a time,” he said when contacted yesterday. “That is the process.” “It’d be unfortunate if the mechanism (panel) set up is not used by the people.

“I really hope people will come forward. Then we can have a look at the judiciary. Otherwise, we may conclude there is no case,” he added. The three-man panel was set up by the Government three weeks ago, but up till Wednesday no one has come forward to give information to the panel headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor. Because of the absence of testimony, the panel – which also includes former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mahadev Shanker and National Service Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye – could only hear the findings of the Anti-Corruption Agency, which was investigating the case. Nazri said there was nothing more the panel could do other than wait for people to come forward because it has neither the powers to compel people to appear before it nor the powers to carry out legal investigations. He said those who had already given their statements to the ACA need not come to the panel as the ACA would already be reporting its findings to the panel. “What we want are other witnesses. I do hope that whoever has information will come forward voluntarily. Without it, the panel would then have to depend on the ACA as the only source. “If possible, we do not want to rely solely on the ACA,” he added.
The video clip came from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which edited it to eight minutes 26 seconds from the original 14 minutes and 16 seconds to protect the identity of the source. ACA has since recorded statements from several people, including PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, party vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, Anwar’s personal assistant Sim Tze Tzin, as well as a senior lawyer and a business tycoon implicated in the video. Nazri said that after the panel received the report from the ACA, it could then also call up these witnesses voluntarily if there was a need. Meanwhile, Sivarasa and Sim reiterated yesterday that they would only reveal the source of the video clip to a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

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Nazri: Govt will help 'video clip' probe panel
B. Suresh Ram

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 10, 2007): The government has assured the three-man panel looking into the authenticity of a video clip showing a senior lawyer discussing the appointment of top judges over the phone of its assistance in the event of any problem it may encounter in its task. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said the Cabinet at its weekly meeting today discussed the difficulties facing by them in their task. He said the panel can submit their report of their investigations at the end of the 30 working days mandate, which is to be given with the recommendations and the difficulties and problems the panel faced in completing its task. Nazri said the Cabinet felt that it is better for the panel to submit its report and the difficulties associated with its task as a whole, in a collective manner, instead of raising problems and difficulties on a piecemeal fashion.

Nazri said in this way, the government will be able to effectively provide a solution on the whole, instead of doing so on a piece-meal fashion, which not only would be time consuming but also could possibly prevent the panel from completing its task within the 30-day time frame. "The Cabinet will help the panel in any which way they want. Let them finish their task and we will see in what way we can help them," he told reporters in Parliament after his ministry's post-cabinet meeting today. Several questions have been raised following the panel’s first meeting last week, such as protection to witnesses coming forward to the panel, the source of the vide tape and others. Nazri said he was also puzzled as to why Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president R. Sivarasa and political co-coordinator Sim Tze Tzin were reluctant to present themselves before the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to provide evidence and reveal the identity of the whistle blowers in the video clip issue. "I can’t understand why he does not want to cooperate now," he said, adding that Sivarasa and PKR should be happy that following the making public of the video clip, the panel was set up to look into their allegations. "The panel was set up to look into their complaint. Why should they not cooperate now? he asked.