No comment, says Sri Ram to allegation he wanted Apandi to arrest Najib in 2018

Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram. -filepic

PETALING JAYA: Former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram has declined to comment on the controversial allegation by former attorney general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali that Sri Ram tried to convince him to arrest then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2018.

"I decline to comment" was all that Sri Ram would say.

According to Apandi, in January 2018, Sri Ram, along with another young lawyer, visited him at home on the pretext of wanting his help on a certain matter.

Apandi said Sri Ram, however, admitted that he "had a bigger agenda at hand" and that he was sent by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a posting on his Facebook page on Wednesday night (June 10), Apandi alleged that Sri Ram said the following: "Tun M sent me to see you.

"He wants you to arrest Najib at his office, you go tomorrow at 2pm, we have arranged for the police in Putrajaya to do what is necessary on your instructions.

"We have also arranged for a magistrate to issue the remand order when he is brought before him or her.

"Brother, you will be a hero in the eyes of the people, and you will be the first Attorney General to arrest a sitting Prime Minister," wrote Apandi.

He claimed that he then questioned Sri Ram on what grounds Najib was supposed to be arrested, to which Sri Ram allegedly replied: "Brother, people out there are frustrated and unhappy, the fact that you arrest him, never mind the reason, will make people happy."

Apandi said although Sri Ram was persuasive and wanted an immediate response, Apandi said he needed time to think about it.

"At the time, my family and I were also under attack in social media, not only from the Opposition but also from within the then Government of the day's cyber troopers," wrote Apandi.

He also claimed to have proof of the meeting in the form of CCTV recording at his house, as well as eyewitnesses in his bodyguards and police personnel manning his guardhouse at the time.

The incident alleged by Apandi happened four months before the historic 14th General Election in May 2018, which saw Pakatan Harapan defeat Barisan Nasional to become the government.

Apandi, who was appointed as Attorney General in July 2015, had his service terminated by the then Pakatan government in June 2018.

This is the second time Sri Ram has declined to comment on a controversial matter in which he is involved. In May, after Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in money laundering charges involving 1MDB funds, a case in which he was lead prosecutor, Sri Ram said, "Once (the) AG has made a statement, that is the end of the matter." - Star