YOURSAY 'Batu Puteh was a blunder, but to me this is just a smokescreen for Mahathir to get rid of AG Abdul Gani Patail.'

Was AG responsible for Batu Puteh blunder?

Odin: Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail's shallow intellect is evident in his warning to Malaysiakini of being possibly subject to some kind of punitive action, perhaps prosecution, if it published Mat Zain's latest comments.

Malaysiakini is merely publishing what may be considered more or less as information available in the public domain. The AG was only making a thinly-veiled threat - an empty one, at that.

Former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Mat Zain Ibrahim has, on several occasions, made damning statements against him, yet until today Abdul Gani has not taken any legal action against the ex-top cop. His inaction means that what Mat Zain has stated was true.

The shallowness of his intellect is also evident in his submitting of a doctored picture to support Malaysia's claim to the islet. Anyone with sufficiently high intellect would have ensured that the image was authentic, especially that the gravity of the matter was of a high magnitude.

The picture of the islet taken from more or less the same location and used by Singapore shows that the highest level of the land mass in the background is only about 2mm higher than the roof of the structure on the right of the lighthouse, whereas the doctored picture suggests that it is some 18mm higher.

The ICJ is not a native court in a kampong - and the dispute was not between two villagers laying claim to a chicken - for him to have taken along his son, someone with less than two years' experience working as a lawyer.

One can only conclude that he viewed the matter as one so minor that it amounted to something like a joke, and his taking of his son along was to give the latter a free holiday.

Haveagreatday: Thank you Mat Zain for embarking on this thankless private crusade.

You can very well enjoy your well-deserved pension, yet you feel the wrongs you have witnessed in the course of your work should be given a proper accounting.

Sadly, I believe this case, as in the one involving murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shariibuu, is connected to those high up in the ladder of powers in our country.

Anonymous_5fb: Yes, Batu Puteh was a blunder, but to me this is just a smokescreen for former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to get rid of Abdul Gani for he doesn't serve his purpose as AG anymore. This is Mahathir, and it is what he does best.

Mat Zain and former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department chief Ramli Yusuff, both of you are 'clean cops' (or should I say cleaner cops?).

You shouldn't lend your credibility to Mahathir. In actual fact, rightly or wrongly, he was the one behind all the blunders, not just Batu Puteh. The buck should stop with Mahathir.

Fair Play: I suppose the war is now finally in the open. And from what was written, a glimpse of the key players are beginning to unfold.

But in politics, never underestimate the power of incumbency. Do they really think that Abdul Gani would go out in a whimper?

Abasir: The inclusion of Abdul Gani's son Faezul Adzra, "who had graduated from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) for no more than two years" in the team to plead before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) should have pleased Mahathir for one reason alone: a UiTM law graduate at the ICJ effectively displacing seasoned legal eagles like Tommy Thomas, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, S Ambiga, et al.

Mahathir was, after all, the chief advocate of putting buffoons in positions way above their competence, no? So why this sandiwara (drama) now? Unless there is a big ‘udang' beneath the Batu Puteh island.

Vijay47: While Malaysia's case at the ICJ may have been spiced with the usual falsehood, deceit, and fakeries our government is renowned for, it would be unjust to attach any fault or misdemeanour to Abdul Gani bringing along his darling son as part of the country's legal team to the Hague, Netherlands.

Firstly, Faezul Adzra, ‘nama' glamour apart, is a graduate of UiTM no less and that immediately places him among the upper echelons of the legal profession.

Secondly, the AG was merely practising a quaint local tradition of getting the family involved, a long-established habit honed and refined by Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz and former women, family and community development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.

Mushiro: Abdul Gani was appointed by Mahathir. What was Dr M doing when Abdul Gani wrecked havoc to our legal system? As long as everything was favourable to Dr M, he turned a blind eye to Abdul Gani's wrongdoings.

There must be a reason why Dr M is willing to expose Abdul Gani now. There should also be an RCI on Dr M's misrule for 23 years.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: We can thank our lucky stars that Singapore did not claim Johor then. With the inferior quality of our legal team, who knows the ICJ might even 'award' Johor to Singapore.

I am no lawyer but from reading all those reports about our 'legal failures', I doubt that the government can win even the most simple case against anybody if Abdul Gani were to remain as the 'top' legal advisor in the country.

All these purported failures was during Mahathirs's reign and it continued till today. Was he totally blameless? He was the one who played a big part in the appointment of Abdul Gani. It was BN that was totally dependent on Abdul Gani and they have to share the blame too.

There were so many victims of Abdul Gani's scheming if all those reports were to be believed. We have lawyer Rosli Dahlan, ex-top cop Ramli Yusuff, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and more.

The only way for the nation to move forward was to have an RCI to get to the bottom of things and punished those responsible. Abdul Gani, too, could have his say to clear his name.

CiViC: Nothing will come out from this. Time and again, many wrongdoings had been proven and crooks caught red-handed and yet, nothing was done.

This is not new in Malaysia, as long as they are under the Umno's umbrella, they are above law, what more when it comes to the AG himself.

As far as Umno is concerned, they own Malaysia, its land, resources and wealth, and they can and will do anything they want with it. Not the king, not the people.

Hang Babeuf: Competition puzzle: Can you guess who is the "good guy" here in this story?

Dr M? Abdul Gani? PDRM? Mat Zain? Shafee Abdullah? The ghost of the late sultan of Johor?

Answers please by next Monday.

Dr M, what sovereignty when ICs given to illegals

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