KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah received a fee of RM1,000 as the lead prosecutor in the sodomy case of PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said she had obtained the agreement of the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Muhammad Shafee himself to reveal the amount after the matter was raised repeatedly in the house.
The matter was kept confidential to respect the ethics of professionalism and the confidentiality of communication between employer and client, she said when replying to a question from Er Teck Hwa (DAP-Bakri).
Er had wanted to know how much Muhammad Shafee was paid as the lead prosecutor during the hearing of Anwar’s case in the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.
The Federal Court upheld a Court of Appeal decision convicting Anwar and sentencing him to five year’s jail after finding him guilty of having sodomised his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008.
Nancy also said that Muhammad Shafee had not sought a fee for his service but an agreement was reached on the payment.
“He had not wanted any payment for his service but we wanted to be transparent and after providing him with the terms of reference, we agreed on a fee,” she said.
Nancy also dismissed Er’s assumption that Muhammad Shafee’s appointment as the lead prosecutor indicated the weakness of staff in the Attorney-General’s Chambers to handle the case.
She said the appointment of an independent individual was aimed at averting accusations by certain quarters.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers had appointed external lawyers previously to handle the prosecution, she added.
On the road show Muhammad Shafee had participated in following the Federal Court decision in Anwar’s case, Nancy said the government had organised a road show involving the lawyer.
However, Muhammad Shafee had participated in other road shows at the invitation of non-governmental organisations, she added. — Bernama