A Crown of Shadows, A Throne of Lies,
The faces shift, yet the system stays the same,
New hands on the reins, a different name,
But the old chains bind, the old sorrow cries.
The whispers of change, a hollow refrain,
A dance of power, a hollow game,
The masses watch, hope fades like rain,
As the privileged feast, still untamed.
- Generated by AI
Is the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) so incompetent that they have let two Umno leaders off serious charges through a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA)? Or is something else at play here as events suggest?
On Nov 27, a judge gave a DNAA to former prime minister Najib Razak in a RM6.6 billion CBT case after a clear botch-up by the prosecution which failed to deliver documents to the defence teams for a trial which began in 2008, six years ago. Why?
On Sept 4 last year, then deputy public prosecutor and present Attorney-General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar (above) inexplicably asked for a DNAA for Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a case involving millions against Yayasan Akalbudi even though the judge said a prima facie case had already been established. Why?
In a complicated case, Najib and the secretary-general of the Treasury at the time, Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, were charged with criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM6.6 billion in alleged payments to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), owned by the Abu Dhabi government.
But the court proceedings were delayed by the prosecution for, among other things, not passing required declassified documents over to the defence, leading the judge to declare a DNAA on application by the defence.
While Najib was facing several charges in different courts, resulting in the hearing of the case being delayed several times since being first filed in 2018, six years is still way too long a time for the prosecution to be unable to get the necessary documents by declassifying them.
Legal sources say declassifying is a common practice which has been there for a long time as the Official Secrets Act (OSA) has been in force since the colonial period. Thus, declassifying documents under the OSA is a straightforward, usual practice.
It is incomprehensible that the AG’s office allowed the DNAA for Najib to happen by being so slipshod over declassifying the necessary documents for the defence. The general public belief is that other factors are at play behind the scenes.
The next one is the infamous DNAA of Zahid, a close ally of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. In this case, the contentious issue was that the deputy public prosecutor, then Dusuki, who is the current AG, had asked for the DNAA even though the judge asked that Zahid enter his defence.
Dusuki, who was appointed AG with effect from Nov 12, said then that among the 10 or 11 reasons for asking for a DNAA was to allow for a more comprehensive and complete investigation into Zahid, despite the presiding judge saying that a prima facie case had been established.
This raised serious questions and public umbrage, questioning the decision to ask for a DNAA and the motives behind it. The AG then was Idrus Harun, and this was among the last major decisions made before he vacated the position two days later on Sept 6.
Now, more than a year later, we have heard nothing about these investigations, a telling indictment against the AG’s Chambers.
Prime ministerial appointments
Idrus was appointed AG during Muhyiddin’s term as prime minister on Mar 6, 2020, to replace Tommy Thomas who resigned following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February of the same year. Thomas initiated the major prosecutions related to 1MDB, enlisting the late Gopal Sri Ram’s help for the IPIC case.
However, Anwar extended Idrus’ term by six months in March 2023. More recently, Idrus was among four individuals appointed as new members of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) for a two-year term, effective Nov 1.
Also appointed were former Federal Court judge Zainun Ali, former Sarawak attorney-general Talat Mahmood Abdul Rashid, and Universiti Teknologi Mara law lecturer Hartini Saripan.
Idrus’ replacement as AG was Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh from Sept 6, 2023, to Nov 11, 2024. Terrirudin was the chief registrar of the Federal Court before being appointed as solicitor-general on March 25, 2022, when Anwar was prime minister. He was appointed a Federal Court judge with effect from Nov 12, 2024, by Anwar.
These events, when the dots are joined, show the same thing that previous prime ministers have done over and over again. The first is to put their person in as AG because he has considerable power, the sole authority on whether prosecution can proceed or not. The second more ambitious one is a friendly Federal Court.
Under Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution, “The Attorney General shall have power, exercisable at his discretion, to institute, conduct, or discontinue any proceedings for an offence, other than proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court, or a court-martial.”
In 2015, Najib removed Abdul Gani Patail as the attorney-general when he thought the latter was going to charge him, replacing Abdul Gani with Mohamed Apandi Ali, who exonerated Najib of wrongdoings over the 1MDB issue.
Now, this power to prosecute has been abused to enable the DNAAs in favour of Zahid and Najib, a politically expedient move currently considering the direction in which the Madani government is headed. With Dusuki as AG and the one behind both DNAAs, this seems fully secured in favour of the Madani government.
The second part of this is to get a “friendly” Federal Court. It is currently headed by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat who has built up its reputation for independence and fairness. But some members of the Federal court, including Tengku Maimun, are set to retire next year.
The prime minister has considerable influence over the appointment of judges to the Federal Court. The JAC members, one part of the decision process, were appointed by the PM.
Anwar is in a good position, with Idrus in the JAC and Terrirudin, his appointee as AG before that, now a Federal Court judge. He is in no hurry to institute long-proposed judicial reforms.
This is not to say that Anwar has done anything illegal. But by making these appointments, he is trying to create a compliant AG and a friendly Federal Court.
In that, he is no different from Mahathir, Najib, or Muhyiddin, and of course the country’s biggest failure as a fair and progressive political party - Umno. The Madani government is surely but not so slowly morphing into Umno 2.
How very tragic! - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM says real change is hard to come by.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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