Tun Faisal questions UMNO Disciplinary Board in rejecting three conditions to be fair

In his latest Facebook post today, he said the three requests were made after getting advice from friends, legal practitioners and UMNO veterans, who were worried the Disciplinary Board could not be fair.

He explained it has happened in previous cases brought to the Disciplinary Board involving offenders of money politics during party elections, for almost the same case, the punishment varies according to the individual.

"For ordinary individuals, they are sentenced to be hanged, but for individuals who are closely related to the leadership, they are only warned.

“The same goes for the case involving Datuk Lokman Adam. Until now there are still murmurs concerning transparency and justice.

"On this advice, I have made the three requests as a precaution and to enable me to make the best preparation to defend myself," he added.

On February 25, the press secretary to the Minister of Federal Territories Tan Sri Annuar Musa, had asked for three things, including a list of names of the tribunal members, namely the chairman and its members.

Tun Faisal also wanted to know the identity of the complainant or the name of the UMNO division which made the complaint as well as the details of the original complaint that he allegedly violated.

The third application was permission for him to bring two legal practitioners to be present and act as observers and an advisors.

However, Tun Faisal said he had received a response letter from the chairman of the UMNO Disciplinary Board Tan Sri Zul Hasnan Rafique, who informed that the three applications were rejected without stating any reasons.

“When this request is rejected, for me, this is a 'missed opportunity' for the Disciplinary Board to show they are transparent, really open and want to find the truth.

"I made these three requests after the Disciplinary Board Secretariat contacted me and informed that they wanted to give me as much space as possible to defend myself," he added.

Tun Faisal said, if the three requests were met, the perception will be more positive on the UMNO Disciplinary Board and UMNO itself would be seen as very committed to be fair and transparent.