Reveal investigation outcome of ex-AG's book, urges Asyraf Wajdi

SHAH ALAM - Umno Youth has urged the government to immediately disclose the findings of the special task force that investigated the contents of former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Thommy Thomas' book entitled "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness".

Its chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said it was important to ensure the public's trust in the bodies involved in upholding the sovereignty of the country's laws such as the judiciary, Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

In fact, he said it was more important to restore public confidence towards the justice and legal system as a whole so that no one would be a victim of political presecution.

"In the Umno Youth's statement on Feb 5, 2021 we had raised at least eight main issues that could link the former AG with various misconducts involving the integrity of the judiciary and legal system.

"Among them included abuse of power in the issue of the appointment of judges. Thomas admitted to be involved in influencing the selection of senior judges.

"This included the Chief Justice, Court of Appeal president, Chief Judge of Malaya and Chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak as well as Federal Cout judge through several discussions with the Prime Minister, even though he held no position in the Judicial Appointments Commission.

"This was a clear violation of the Judicial Appointments Commission Act (Act 695) 2009," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Asyraf said following Thomas' revelations, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigations should include claims of judicial misconduct in an affidavit filed by Court of Appeal judge Datuk Hamid Sultan Abu Backer in 2019 and as urged by Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).

He added that the revelations showed that there was a clear interference by the seventh prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the judicial body where it went against the separation of powers principles set under the Federal Constitution.

"Thomas had also conducted selective prosecution unfairly when he dropped the charges and withdrew the cases that were on trial involving corruption such as the one against Lim Guan Eng, although the MACC stated that there was a case against the former finance minister.

"He violated the oath of office and the Official Secrets Act (Act 88) 1972 by revealing to the public the contents of his book with the discussion and consultation of him as AG with the prime minister, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers that were classified," he said.

Asyraf said Thomas had lobbied his position as AG prior to the 13th General Election (GE13) in 2013 and directly or indirectly revealed his political tendency.

What was even more disappointing, he said was that Thomas had belittled and claimed that legal officers serving in the Attorney-General's Chambers was too bureaucratic and showed no commitment, competency and spirit in performing their responsibilities.

"The claims are serious as the people would perceive the country's judiciary negatively," he said.