PAS seeks royal probe on A-G

UPDATED @ 05:26:29 PM 26-09-2011

By Clara Chooi

September 26, 2011

Gani has been hit repeatedly with accusations by a former senior police officer. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — PAS is demanding Putrajaya form a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate allegations of misconduct against Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail or prosecute the latter’s accusers for making false accusations.

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar today asked why the government and Abdul Gani have chosen to ignore the allegations, which include several claims of corruption and evidence fabrication.

Failure to act on the accusations, he added, would only tarnish the image, reputation and integrity of the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the post of the Attorney-General, who serves as the country’s highest-ranking public prosecutor.

“If the government fails to take any action within an acceptable timeframe, PAS will initiate a petition calling for the formation of an RCI and submit it to the Agong,” Mahfuz told a press conference here.

The PAS MP listed several accusations against Abdul Gani including claims made by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that construction company Ho Hup Bhd had paid for renovations at one of the Attorney-General’s houses; the A-G’s purported relationship with Shahidan Shafie, an alleged proxy to former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chairman Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli; and his alleged role in the case of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu.

Abdul Gani is also the centre of allegations by former senior police officer Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim, who has accused the former of fabricating evidence in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 1998 “black-eye” probe.

Mahfuz pointed out that if Abdul Gani’s reason for not filing legal action against his accusers was because Raja Petra is abroad, the A-G could still sue Mat Zain.

“If these accusations are untrue, why not take legal action? Or at the very least, the claims must be investigated and not ignored,” he said.

Mat Zain, who was the investigating officer in Anwar’s assault case, has filed repeated appeals to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar, urging action against Abdul Gani for his alleged role in the “black-eye” probe.

The former police officer went a step further recently by accusing Putrajaya of admitting last year to Abdul Gani’s role in allegedly falsifying evidence when it backed an independent panel’s findings on the case.

He said with Putrajaya’s endorsement, there was no longer a need to form a royal commission of inquiry or a tribunal to investigate Abdul Gani’s involvement.

Mat Zain also claimed that Najib was aware of Abdul Gani’s involvement as the former had been briefed and was provided “complete evidence” in October 2008, when he was still the country’s deputy prime minister.

Mat Zain said he had briefed Najib at the latter’s Finance Ministry office in Putrajaya, adding that he had “assumed” the leader would take appropriate action once he took on the prime minister’s post.