RCI into Thomas' book not necessary

 

With due respect to the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reforms), I strongly disagree with the move by the present government in initiating a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Tommy Thomas' memoir "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness".

In my view, the government should not waste any public funds by establishing the RCI against the former attorney general who, in my view, contributed a lot to the nation in bringing those who have allegedly ruined our economy to the court of law whereas his predecessors miserably failed to do the same.

Despite the fact 1MDB was a crime of the century and originated from Malaysia, what we noticed is that prior to Thomas' leadership at the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), the real culprit was never criminally charged in court as if he could commit such a heinous crime with impunity!

After all, the current prime minister has recently conceded that our beloved nation is presently a trillion ringgit in debt. Did such a debt come out of nothing?

Maybe the relevant minister of law may confirm to the nation that 1MDB and corruptions have nothing at all to do with such a colossal debt being unnecessarily incurred.

This new government, in my view, should never send any mixed or wrong messages to prospective investors - foreign and domestic - by pursuing the "perceived" vendetta against our former AG.

Like it or not, Umno cannot run away from the negative perception that the RCI has to do with the party's overzealousness in pursuing the "perceived" vendetta against Thomas.

After all, a dozen of Umno leaders were indicted when Thomas assumed the office of AG.

It is common knowledge that the party has been vocal against Thomas since the day he was appointed as the AG. In his latest speech at the Umno assembly, the youth chief of Umno recommended all the Umno leaders who were charged by Thomas to file civil claims against the latter if they have been acquitted by the court. Such civil claims are known in law as torts of malicious prosecution.

The government should avoid at all costs being dubbed as the enemy of freedom of speech and expression by agreeing to the establishment of the RCI against Thomas's book.

Punishable freedom is no longer considered genuine freedom. It would render such freedom ineffective, meaningless and illusory.

If at all Thomas's book contains any criminal elements therein, the country has the necessary tools to bring him to justice in accordance with the law.

Yes, this is a coalition government but it should not be viewed as if Pakatan Harapan has no role at all therein.

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MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is a former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.