Below are excerpts of the press conference at the maiden meeting of the three-member panel headed by former chief judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor to probe the authenticity of the 'judicial appointments fixing' video clip.

Also present were panel members former judge Mahadev Shankar ( left ) and National Service Training Council chairperson Lee Lam Thye. Lee, however, did not make any comment at the press conference.

Mahadev: I'm very distressed at the amount of scurrilous material that is being floated on the Internet and in blogs and so on casting aspersions - where you have spare me so far but my two colleagues have not been so lucky. I ask all of you out there, don't throw stones at us until we have finish our inquiry. I respect freedom of speech, you can say what you want, but if you want us to do our work well as an independent panel, let us finish our work first as best as we can.