'Najib’s suit against Thomas filled with unconnected political issues'

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s wrongful prosecution suit against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas was ‘filled with unconnected political issues”, according to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

In the full grounds of judgment released yesterday, judge Ahmad Bache ruled that the former finance minister’s legal action lacked detail on Thomas’ alleged involvement in wrongful prosecution.

The judge, who on Nov 25 last year allowed Thomas’ application to strike out the civil action, noted that the suit’s pleadings and statement of claim were vague, devoid of material facts, substance and particulars.

Ahmad Bache

Ahmad pointed out that it did not explain when, how and what Thomas did that amounted to misfeasance in public office, malicious process and negligence.

“Instead, the statement of claims were filled with unconnected political issues such as Pakatan Harapan and (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) and Harapan’s manifestos, to name a few.

“The plaintiff also alleged that the defendant interfered or obstructed investigations but failed to give particulars as to how it was done, for example through coercion of witnesses or forging of evidence.

“Hence, the plaintiff failed to provide cogent materials to anchor his assertions to support his claims,” Ahmad said.

Najib has a pending appeal at the Court of Appeal to revive the lawsuit, which centred on Thomas’ alleged wrongful prosecution against him in four criminal cases.

Three of the cases are ongoing, namely the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case, the RM6.6 billion International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) criminal breach of trust (CBT) case, and the RM27 million SRC International money-laundering case.

The fourth one is the 1MDB audit case, for which Najib has been granted a full acquittal by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur. The prosecution, however, went to the Court of Appeal to quash this ruling.

The civil suit, however, is not over the RM42 million SRC corruption case (a separate case from the RM27 million SRC money-laundering case), for which Najib is serving a 12-year jail sentence.

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas

In his judgment, Ahmad said that Najib failed to state why and how the prosecution in the said criminal cases was not in accordance with the law.

Ahmad noted that Thomas, as then attorney-general, was under a public duty to prosecute the plaintiff after investigating agencies had provided the defendant with all necessary evidence, following thorough investigations.

“On the contrary, Thomas would be failing in his duties as a public prosecutor if he failed to charge the plaintiff for those offences. As all men are equal before the law, he is to ensure that the plaintiff did not escape the long arms of the law with impunity, just like anyone else when there was overwhelming evidence to prefer charges against him.

“It is undisputed that Thomas was then a government servant (attorney-general) and hence like any other government servant, is neutral and discharges his duties independently.

“Hence, the issue of selective prosecution or Thomas having preferred charges against the plaintiff under the Harapan government’s instruction do not arise,” Ahmad said. - Mkini