KUALA LUMPUR – The police investigation into former attorney-general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali will focus on the abuse of his power “to save a person from punishment”.
According to Royal Malaysia Police secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin, the probe is being conducted by the Classified Criminal Investigation Unit under Section 217 of the Penal Code.
The provision stipulates that any public servant who knowingly disobeys the direction of the law as to how he is supposed to conduct himself with the intention to save any person from legal punishment is to be found guilty of an offence.
The offence carries a maximum punishment of two years’ imprisonment or a fine.
“(The) investigation is actively ongoing,” Noorsiah said in a statement today.
She said the investigation follows a report lodged by Klang MP Charles Santiago on Wednesday alleging Apandi had fabricated information and lied while in office to save former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from legal action.
The DAP lawmaker had said he wanted police to investigate Apandi for allegedly covering up for Najib over accusations involving donations that the latter received during his tenure in Putrajaya.
This follows the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s July 22 decision to dismiss a defamation suit filed by Apandi against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang over a 2019 article, after finding the former lying over several claims made in the past.
In her judgement, judge Datuk Azimah Omar had said Apandi appeared disinterested and self contradictory when testifying, and that the latter overtly showed disinterest and indifference to the elementary rule of law and common sense.
She expressed disdain to the sordid extent of the plaintiff’s self-contradictory testimony, evasiveness and outright untruth over questions of the RM2.6 billion donation received by Najib, and Apandi’s decision to absolve the former prime minister from blame.
Chiefly, Azimah had said that Apandi had lied about flying a delegation to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and personally meeting the alleged donor himself then, after the latter admitted that they did not meet nor speak (to the donor).
Following his police report, Santiago today urged his colleagues in Parliament, as well as other Malaysians, to take similar action in a bid to pile further pressure.
He also called on the government to immediately separate the role of the AG and public prosecutor to avoid similar cases of power abuse in the future. – The Vibes, July 29, 2022
