KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 -- The Malaysian Bar today lauded the government's announcement to add more courtrooms dedicated to hear corruption cases.

However, the association representing lawyers in the peninsula urged the government to ensure the courtrooms would not be used selectively to fast-track past corruption cases.

"The rot of corruption must be stamped out. Acts of public corruption are a violation of public trust, and deprive citizens of State resources that should be used for public benefit instead of being pocketed for personal gain.

"The mandate of these specialised courts must be to mete out justice for offences, whether past, present or future," Malaysian Bar president Datuk Abdul Fareed Abdul Gafoor said in a statement.

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