Nazri: I made a mistake, it is true the judges were sacked – Malaysiakini

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Nazri Aziz, admitted today that the six former Supreme Court judges, embroiled in the 1988 judicial crisis, were indeed sacked.

He also explained that his remark in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the 'retirement' was based on the pensions the six judges had received over the last 20 years, according to a report by Malaysiakini .

He revealed that it was the former Yang dipeartuan Agong who had requested the government to pay pension to the six sacked judges.

"It is true, they were sacked, " he said.

"I regret my statement has caused some misrepresentations. I did not mean to do as I did not know the contents of the letter," he explained.

King wanted pension for sacked judges
Rahmah Ghazali Nov 13, 08 2:01pm

Former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Iskandar Ismail had requested the government to pay pension to the six sacked judges who were embroiled in the 1988 judiciary crisis, Parliament was told.

Revealing this today, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said the king had expressed his wish in a letter about 20 years ago to the then chief secretary to the government.

Nazri said he discovered this letter after a thorough investigation and conceded his mistake in claiming earlier that the six judges were not sacked but forced to retire.

He also explained that his remark in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the 'retirement' was based on the pensions the six judges had received over the last 20 years.

"This (letter from the King) is the thing that I did not know. But I want to say that I regret my statement based on the fact they received pensions," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Normally, he said, government service pensions will not be given if the civil ervants were sacked.

"That is why, I said, 'maybe, maybe they were not sacked because they received pensions'... but it is true, they were sacked.

"I regret my statement has caused some misrepresentations. I did not mean to do as I did not know the contents of the letter," he explained.

The minister added that he would also explain the matter in the House.

'Parliament asked, so we revealed

'The six judges, including former Lord President Salleh Abas, recently received RM10.5 million in ex-gratia payment from the government.

Salleh received RM5 million while former Supreme Court judges, the late Wan Suleiman Pawanteh (RM2 million), George Seah (RM2 million), Azmi Kamaruddin, the late Eusoffe Abdoolcadeer and Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh (RM500,000).