Minister should seek justice in Sabah, not KL: Kit Siang

Kota Kinabalu: DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang said the turtle eggs case involving an Umno Minister and a Sabah newspaper is yet another reason why reforms are needed in the country and which only the Pakatan Harapan can deliver. "I have read about it. It is because for the convenience of a powerful Minister in Kuala Lumpur that the case was arranged to be heard in Kuala Lumpur.

"The Minister in Kuala Lumpur…if he wants justice he should be made to come to Sabah for it.

We have great lawyers. We have great judges. But do we have a great judiciary (system)?

"People from Sabah should not be unjustifiably burdened with expenses (to attend the trial in Kuala Lumpur).

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"This is why this country needs reforms," he stressed at a DAP fund raising dinner attended by about a thousand people.

"After Pakatan Harapan takes over the government, we will reform all the institutions that need to be reformed for the good of everybody."

Daily Express and its Chief Editor James Sarda were sued in a Kuala Lumpur High Court over news report on banned turtle eggs being served at an Umno dinner in Beluran, Sandakan, in the presence of a Federal Minister.

Kit Siang also questioned the need for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib to seek a consensus before he can implement Sabah's rights under the Malaysia Agreement that were whittled away or diluted since independence through the formation of Malaysian in 1963.

"Why the need for consensus for the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement's rights for Sabah?

If consensus, even if one disagrees the whole exercise is defeated," he said.

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"If one party said 'no', would the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement not be implemented as there's no consensus reached?" he asked. "The Malaysia Agreement was already signed in 1963 along the dotted lines, just implement it, no need for any further consensus," he said to loud claps. The next day, at a rally at Damai, Luyang, Lim again mentioned how the turtle eggs case placed not just ordinary Sabahans but also the legal fraternity at a disadvantage.

Sabah lawyers have also questioned the decision have the case heard in Kuala Lumpur when the jurisdiction clearly fell on the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak since the cause of action, i.e. the alleged incident, witnesses and newspaper which reported it were all in Sabah even though one of the reports appeared on the internet with no proof whatsoever offered by the plaintiff that it was downloaded in peninsula to justify publication. - David Thien

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