IN July 2015, the then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail was abruptly replaced with Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali. Prior to that, Gani was heading a special taskforce probing the wrongdoings (involving) 1MDB.
As events eventually unfolded, the money trail in 1MDB led to then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is now serving a 12-year jail sentence and fined RM210 million for abuse of power and corruption.
One can’t be faulted for thinking that Gani’s removal, some three months prior to his retirement in October, came as a relief for Najib, if not bought the latter precious time.
One also can’t be faulted for drawing comparison between the episode, which took place eight years ago, and the recent removal of Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran as the lead prosecutor in the corruption trial of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The similarities did not end there. When approached by Malaysiakini for comment at that time, Gani replied: “Never mind. I don’t want to say a word. Nanti saya cakap ni banyaklah.”
Meanwhile, Raja Rozela’s response to the NST over her departure was: “I am a public servant... I am not allowed to comment. My apologies.”
Officially, Gani “left” due to “health reasons” while Raja Rozela had opted for “early retirement”. In both instances, the reasons were stated through media statements by their immediate superiors i.e. the then chief secretary Ali Hamsa for the former and Attorney-General Idrus Harun for the latter. Neither Gani nor Raja Rozela addressed the media despite the huge public interest in their decisions.
Aren’t the similarities eerie?
Why did Raja Rozela leave when she had led a team that had proven a prima facie case against Zahid, who’s facing 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, graft and money laundering involving Yayasan Akal Budi funds.
This decision to drop Raja Rozela is part of a series of questionable decisions made by the prosecutors with regards to Zahid’s trial. For one, he’s able to get his passport back purportedly for work, but from the looks of it, he took the opportunity to undergo a cosmetic procedure abroad too.
Worse still, he was able to get his trial postponed in April over “new facts and evidence” and that prosecutors then had been instructed not to oppose to the postponement. It is unclear what the “new evidence” was, but considering that his defence has been called, it is all very fishy.
By any account, these are suspicious moves which suggest political interference. It didn’t help that the law and reform minister is an Umno leader.
If it’s true that Raja Rozela was adamant about retiring, did the government try to persuade her to stay at least until the disposal of Zahid’s case? What were the reasons behind her decision to call it quits, given her upstanding reputation as a prosecutor? Why was she dropped now when her retirement only takes effect in November?
There are far too many unanswered questions over Raja Rozela’s departure. Unless the government clears the air over these, it’d have to brace for a backlash from voters, particularly the urbanites, in this Saturday’s election. – The Vibes, August 9, 2023
Toh Lai Meng is a reader of The Vibes
