KUALA LUMPUR – Former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas claimed that the suit filed by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak against him and the government alleging abuse of power was politically motivated.
In a supporting affidavit to strike out the former premier’s suit, Thomas said he believed that Najib had filed the suit for use in the campaign leading up to the recent Melaka election and also for the coming general election, which must be held by the middle of 2023.
Thomas, 69, said this was evidenced by the fact that the allegation was only raised by Najib recently (for the first time) – although he was charged in cases related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in September 2018 as well as for money laundering in 2019.
He claimed that Najib had never raised any allegation of “malicious prosecution” as part of the defence in his SRC International Sdn Bhd trial and the other ongoing 1MDB-related cases.
Thomas, who was the attorney-general from June 4, 2018 to February 28, 2020, said, four criminal cases against Najib were still pending in the high court and therefore he remained as an accused person.
Thomas claimed that, as the then public prosecutor, he did not owe a duty of care to persons charged like Najib, inter alia, because of the adversarial system under Malaysian law.
He said that, if the suit was not struck out, but proceeded to trial on a civil balance of proof, the result would be Najib’s charges being retried again.
“This is not sustainable in law. It is also against the public interest,” he added.
Addressing Najib’s claim that he (Thomas) had prejudged his (Najib) cases before making a decision to charge him as well as interfered in the investigations, Thomas said:
When each investigation paper (IP) in respect of Najib was submitted to me, I was satisfied that there was a strong case against him. I studied the IPs to the best of my ability, discussed them with the relevant officers in public prosecutor’s (PP) office and then honestly decided to charge Najib.
“Accordingly, the allegations in the statement of claim that I decided to prosecute him despite the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) having found no wrongdoings, are denied.
“Neither I, nor any staff from the PP’s office, interfered in the MACC’s investigations against Najib which resulted in the prosecutions. The investigations were carried out independently by MACC,” said Thomas.
He said the plaintiff’s claim was meant to harass and intimidate him for upholding his duty as attorney-general and public prosecutor and having exercised his discretion under Article 145 (3) of federal constitution to charge him (Najib).
On October 22, Najib filed a suit claiming that he had been wrongly prosecuted in the case involving 1MDB and International Petroleum Investment Company over abuse of power and money laundering. He is seeking RM1.9 million in damages as well as a declaration that Thomas had committed misfeasance in public office.
The Pekan MP claimed that the charges against him were part of a move planned in advance by Thomas and it (his prosecution) was also in line with the Pakatan Harapan government’s plan at the time.
Najib claimed that, in 2015, Thomas had met Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss alleged wrongdoings and mismanagement involving 1MDB funds, and also advised Mahathir to take civil and criminal action against Najib over those issues.
The high court set January 19, 2022 for case management. – Bernama, November 26, 2021
