Don’t use federal agencies to go after critics, lawyer tells Najib

Lawyer Andrew Khoo has told Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to not use government enforcement agencies to go after critics. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 4, 2015.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not use government enforcement agencies to pursue critics, said a human rights lawyer, after the prime minister issued a warning on Facebook following an expose by The Wall Street Journal.

Lawyer Andrew Khoo said if Najib wanted to clear his name, he should file a civil suit either here or in New York where the media outlet is based.

He added that going by Najib's statement, he was portraying that criticism against his credibility were attacks against the government and an attempt to overthrow it.

The lawyer said as Najib was not in charge of law enforcement, he should not be seen as giving any possible hint or suggestion that he was directing law enforcement authorities.

"It seems that the groundwork has been laid for an investigation of a possible breach of the Penal Code on activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

"So the door is being opened for the police to launch investigations," Khoo told The Malaysian Insider.

The WSJ reported that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and ended up in the prime minister's personal accounts in five separate deposits.

In refuting the claims in the WSJ, Najib took to Facebook last night to warn those who continued to mount attacks to be prepared to face the consequences of their actions.

Lawyer S. N. Nair agreed that Najib should take his case to the civil courts and not do it through the country's criminal justice system.

"If he uses the Penal Code, it would not be fair because it is an allegation against him.

"He is the prime minister and in that sense the attorney-general reports to him. Clearly there would be an abuse of power," Nair said.

Nair added that Najib saying that "he would use the full force of the law" could also mean both ways, either through the state criminal system or filing a civil suit, and not necessarily the former.

He said this was the most serious documented allegation of a crime made against a sitting prime minister, especially by a reputable international newspaper.

He added that an open and "thorough investigation" will do more good to Najib’s reputation than harm as it provided him an opportunity to show that such allegations were scurrilous or baseless.

Lawyer R. Kengadharan felt that given the seriousness of the allegations, which were bound to rock the cradle of government, Najib should be able to use the criminal justice system in the country to ward off his critics if he felt he had been wronged.

He said this was necessary to restore the confidence of the people, if the wrong was committed against the state.

He added that if it was defamation committed against an individual, then there was a civil remedy.

- TMI