KUCHING: Federal Deputy Tourism Minister James Mamit came under fire from the state opposition for questioning the integrity of the courts which had ruled in favour of natives in many native customary rights (NCR) land cases. Mamit alleged that state opposition leaders, who were mostly lawyers, generated their income from fighting NCR cases hence they were often in rural areas convincing natives to bring their cases to court claiming the government had violated the rights of people.
“What they are eyeing are the legal fees. This is how they survive. I know their tricks,” Mamit had reportedly told a local daily.
State PKR chief Baru Bian said Mamit’s allegation was an affront to lawyers and the court.
“He is treading on thin ice – let him be duly warned.
“As a leader of the opposition and a lawyer who fights for the rural folks, I invite the Deputy Minister to furnish the public with specific details about these tricks we have been accused of pulling.
“He should know that it is no use making vague accusations when the accuser does not have facts to back him up…
“It seems to me that by imputing improper motive to us, the deputy minister is, by extension, casting aspersions on the wisdom and integrity of the courts, which have been ruling in favour of the plaintiffs in many of our cases.
“Is the deputy minister saying that the land grabs that have been the subject of our many court cases are all false information?” Bian asked.
He urged Mamit to clarify his claims that many court cases were based on false information.
“If he has the ‘real information’, I would be very pleased to hear it and I await his clarification with great anticipation.
“For his benefit, ‘real information’ means information backed by proper and relevant documentation, such as the type [of documents] we produce as evidence in the conduct of our court cases,” said Bian, who is also the Ba’Kelalan assemblyman.
Deluge of land cases
Bian said that no lawyer worth his salt would file an action against the government or indeed any party if no reasonable cause of action exists.
“To do so would be to invite derision from the bench, ridicule from the Bar and negligent lawsuits from the clients and this is not to mention a poor reputation for the law firm.
“Let me also say that the rural people will not take legal action against the government for no good reason, especially when it comes to violation of their rights.
“They have been so oppressed and cowed by the BN government over the years that they would not resort to the courts unless they had no other recourse.
“And contrary to what the deputy minister says, we do not have to seek these people out; they know where to find us, and they are coming in droves.
“In fact, on many occasions, I tell these folks from the longhouses that I am already too busy with many NCR land cases and that if possible, they should engage other lawyers, but to no avail.
“Perhaps the insightful deputy minister could honour us with the fruits of his wisdom and tell us what he thinks is the reason for this phenomenon,” Bian said.
He warned Mamit to be “more circumspect” in his allegations in the future because unlike natives, opposition leaders-cum-lawyers are “fully aware” of their rights.
“We are fully aware of our rights, unlike the natives who have been cheated and robbed by the BN politicians and their cronies.
“As our lawyers are currently occupied with the deluge of NCR land cases, we will overlook his deplorable ignorance this time.
“He (Mamit) should, however, take note that we will not hesitate to take legal action against him should he ever feel inclined to make similar baseless accusations again.”
Joseph Tawie | March 12, 2012
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