Munawar to
appeal after all, in latest twist
by Brendan Pereira
The Singapore Straits
Times, Oct 6
After a week of conflicting
reports, it appears that the former
speechwriter for Anwar
Ibrahim, convicted of sodomy and sentenced to six
months' jail, is appealing
against sentence and conviction.
Mr Manjeet Singh Dhillon
and Mr Balwant Singh Sidhu yesterday appeared
in the High Court and
said that they were holding a watching brief for
Munawar, a potential
witness in the case against Anwar.
The prosecution's Datuk
Abdul Gani Patail objected, saying: "We don't
know who the counsel
is."
What transpired next
was a short burst of verbal exchange.
Mr Manjeet replied:
"I think it is none of the Attorney-General's
Chambers' business."
Datuk Abdul Gani noted
he did not want to make a big issue of this
matter but warned:
"If he is not the counsel, he will be in trouble."
Mr Manjeet did not
take kindly to the threat and said that any question
on representation was
a matter between the lawyer, his client and the
Bar Council.
High Court judge Augustine
Paul interjected: "As far as I am concerned,
when a counsel says
that he is holding a watching brief, I shall accept
it."
The Munawar saga started
last week when Mr Manjeet said that he had been
hired as the lawyer
for the Pakistani national and instructed to file an
appeal.
Almost immediately,
Mr Munawar's lawyer during the trial said he
remained the lawyer
on record and his client did not wish to appeal.