Thomas sues govt, special taskforce over memoir investigation

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas has filed a suit against the government and the special task force that investigated his memoir.

He filed the suit through Messrs Tommy Thomas at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Dec 4 after the court ordered the originating summons to be changed to a civil suit on Oct 2, so that it could be heard and resolved through a full trial.

In the new suit, Thomas named eight task force members - Fong Joo Chung, Hashim Paijan, Junaidah Kamarruddin, Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Shaharudin Ali, K Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi, Mohd Najib Surip and the government as first to ninth defendants.

In his statement of claim, Thomas alleged that on Sept 30, 2022, the first to eighth defendants had produced and presented to the ninth defendant (the government) a special task force report - ‘Investigations into allegations contained in the memoir ‘My Story: Justice In The Wilderness’ by Tommy Thomas, former attorney-general'.

He alleges that the report, among other things, stated his offences when holding the position of attorney-general, revealing state secrets and intervening in the judiciary and the appointment of judges.

Thomas, who served as attorney-general from June 2018 to February 2022, said then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who acted on behalf of the government at that time, instructed the related enforcement agencies to conduct further investigations into the possibility of misconduct on his behalf.

He also stated that during the BN gathering at Bagan Datuk on Oct 17, 2022, Ismail Sabri openly announced that he had declassified the report as an official secret so that it could be used as political ammunition during the 15th general election, and also asked the law minister at that time to publish the report.

“Therefore, the appointment of the first to eighth defendants as special task force members was not purely for investigative purposes or a fact-finding mission into my behaviour as AG, but as political ammunition for personal and political purposes and as a reactionary measure to my decision to bring charges against Umno members,” Thomas alleged.

He also stated that the special task force report was a document without legal authority as the appointment and terms of reference of the team were not supported by any written law and it was supposedly classified by the government as an official secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

As such, the plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the report on the book is illegal and violated Sections 499 and 500 of the Penal Code or Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, and breached the plaintiff’s right to have his reputation protected under Articles 5(1), 8(1), 13(1) of the Federal Constitution.

According to a check of the court system, the case management has been set for Jan 30.

- Bernama