De facto law minister Nancy Shukri (pic) said Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was appointed by the government because of his experience as a lawyer and previously as a deputy public prosecutor. ― File picKUALA LUMPUR, March 11 ― The government paid a total of RM1,000 to engage Umno-linked lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's services in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial.
De facto law minister Nancy Shukri said the prominent lawyer was appointed by the government because of his experience as a lawyer and previously as a deputy public prosecutor.
“I want to inform that I can only reveal the total fee upon approval from the Attorney-General and Shafee and based on the agreement between both parties, the total fee for his services is RM1,000,” she said in her reply in Parliament.
The Batang Sadong MP said the government decided to hire a lawyer outside of the Attorney-General's Chambers to avoid “negative allegations” and several lawyers, including Shafee, were identified to take the job.
“Tan Sri Shafee was the one who agreed among the few who had been identified for Datuk Seri Anwar's appeal.
“We have hired lawyers to represent the prosecution team before and it is not true that we want to take him in as a prominent lawyer because he did not want to accept the fee offered to him initially,” she said.
She also challenged the federal pposition coalition to reveal the source of its funds for the legal fees and the total cost for the case.
“Talking about transparency, this is it,” she said.
