Up to AG to decide if Thomas should be charged, says lawyer

 

Police say 134 reports have been lodged against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas over his memoirs.

PETALING JAYA: Police are obliged to investigate potential crimes when reports are made while it is the discretion of the attorney-general to file charges, a lawyer said.

N Sivananthan said police, as investigators, would study reports made and classify them under any penal law if it appeared that offences had been committed.

“They will only investigate if there is substance in the reports,” he said.

Sivananthan was responding to a statement by Bukit Aman CID director Huzir Mohamed yesterday that police received 134 reports nationwide related to the contents of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ book, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.

N Sivananthan.

Thomas, who served as the attorney-general for 20 months from June 2018, is alleged to have defamed and insulted various parties.

Among those who lodged reports against him were former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali and former solicitor-general III Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria.

Huzir said the investigations were being carried out by Bukit Aman’s Classified Criminal Investigation Unit and would be done in detail before any party, including Thomas, is called to record their statements.

He said one of the investigation papers opened was under Section 500 of the Penal Code for alleged criminal defamation and another under Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act 1972 for allegedly leaking information.

Another is under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 involving a tendency to incite.

Sivananthan said investigation papers would be finally referred to the prosecution for a decision.

“Police can make recommendations but the attorney-general, as the public prosecutor, has the discretion to charge. He could ask police to classify the investigation papers as ‘no further action’ or to get further information before making a final decision,” he said.

Lawyer A Srimurugan said all three alleged offences classified were “seizable”, meaning Thomas could be arrested and detained for investigation.

“However, the question of erasing evidence and harassing witnesses does not arise as the subject is all in the book,” he said. - FMT