Lawyer: Conflict of interest if AG leads prosecution on Najib

N Sivananthan says it will breach PH's election manifesto if Tommy Thomas continues leading the prosecution team.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is the lead prosecutor in the case against Najib Razak.

PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has advised Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas to distance himself from the government team prosecuting former prime minister Najib Razak, saying it would be against Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) manifesto for him to continue leading the team.

N Sivananthan said under the Federal Constitution, the AG had two separate and distant roles as he was the principal legal adviser to the government as well as the public prosecutor.

“As the public prosecutor, the AG is required to act independently and impartially as the guardian of public interests.

“He will find himself in an unenviable and arduous position of conflict of interest if the interests of his client – the government of the day – do not fully coincide with public interests,” he told FMT.

He added that Thomas might not be able to act objectively if Najib’s lawyers make a representation to the AG to drop or reduce the charges against their client.

“Should Thomas insist on leading the prosecution team, it will be seen as the first major breach of PH’s election manifesto,” he said.

In one of its manifesto pledges, unveiled on March 15, PH had vowed to separate the AG’s responsibilities from those of the public prosecutor.

It said the appointed AG would be a qualified MP and a minister, who would act as a legal adviser to the government.

The public prosecutor meanwhile would be an individual free from political interests who had autonomy in carrying out prosecutions.

Last Wednesday, Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one for abuse of power in relation to the RM42 million from SRC International which was transferred to his personal bank account.

Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had said his client would be making a formal application to the High Court to disqualify Thomas from leading the prosecution team in his case.

Shafee also said Thomas had made a pre-judgment before even becoming the AG.

Najib, in three civil filings made some two weeks ago, claimed that Thomas, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Mohd Shukri Abdull and police commercial crimes head Amar Singh were prejudiced against him over the course of their investigations.

Badrul Abdullah, who leads one of two Malaysian legal firms representing Najib, said the applications were based on past statements made by the three individuals.

“We are seeking a court decision on whether there is an element of conflict of interest among the individuals handling the case,” Badrul told Reuters. -FMT