“How would one explain the fact that the GoM willingly compensated Apandi Ali, whereas Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was sacked as Attorney General under extremely dubious circumstances, was never even offered an apology?”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
1مدب، ڤمچتن ڬاني ڤاتال ۏس اڤندي علي – سيكڤ ڤيليه كاسيه كراجأن مليسيا
On the heels of the 14th general election, Malaysia’s then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, relieved the duties of the country’s then head of prosecution to gather focus on reopening probes into 1MDB.
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That was on the 14th of May 2018, when Tan Sri Apandi Ali – the then Attorney General – was told to go on unrecorded leave, with his duties being taken over by the then solicitor-general.
Soon after, Mahathir submitted Tommy Thomas’ name to the Palace as Apandi’s replacement, and this was eventually consented to by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V.
Everything was done pursuant to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and Mahathir’s prerogative as Prime Minister to advise the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong accordingly.
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This seems to have been attested to by the office of the current Attorney General, Tan Sri Idris Harun, meaning, Mahathir’s actions were in compliance with established procedures, pursuant to the Rule of Law.
Yet, on the 13th of October 2020, Apandi filed a lawsuit against Mahathir and the Government of Malaysia (GoM), seeking for court declarations that his dismissal as attorney general was unlawful and not in compliance with the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.
I remember telling my associates that this was a “publicity stunt,” and that Apandi, who was a “drama queen” at best, would get nowhere with the suit as everything that Mahathir did was in accordance with the Rule of Law.
But to my shock, on the 13th of April 2022, the GoM reached an out of court settlement with Apandi and is said to have agreed to a compensation deal, which, according to a source, seems to be quite “impressive.”
An even bigger shock came when Mahathir himself revealed – as recently as two days ago – that the settlement terms were never discussed with or made known to him, at any point in time, by the current Attorney General.
Mahathir insisted that everything he did as Prime Minister was in compliance with established procedures pursuant to the Rule of Law, and this was even related to him by the present Attorney General’s team.
So tell me, why did the GoM enter into a settlement agreement with this Apandi fellow, in a seemingly hurried and hush-hush manner, when there was no known transgression on the GoM’s part?
How would one explain the fact that the GoM willingly compensated Apandi Ali, whereas Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was sacked as Attorney General under extremely dubious circumstances, was never even offered an apology?
Sometime in 2015, Gani was leading a Special Task Force (STF) comprising Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), the Malaysian Anti -Corruption Commission (MACC), PAC and the Attorney General’s Office (AGC).
The team was tasked to investigate 1MDB following allegations, supported by documentary evidence, that Najib had received some US$700 million in government money, believed to have been misappropriated from 1MDB.
Back then, the MACC, PDRM, PAC, AGC and BNM were already on the case and were conducting their own probes.
Through the Special Task Force, these agencies coordinated tasks, bypassed bureaucratic gridlocks and shared material information with relative ease, simultaneously preventing the possibility of evidences being kept secret for the purpose of ‘rescuing’ 1MDB or Najib.
However, on the 27th of July 2015, Najib shocked the world when he sacked Gani, amid allegations that the latter was complicit in a plot to topple him.
Ironically, these allegations were never substantiated with evidence and were only doing rounds in pro-Najib circles, propagated by Najib-friendly bloggers and cyber troopers.
A month later, the MACC sent further shockwaves across the globe by announcing that the Special Task Force Gani was leading had been disbanded despite then-ongoing investigations.
As if that wasn’t enough, on the 4th of March 2016, Najib personally classified 1MDB’s final audit report and several other documents as “official secrets” under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA).
All this proves that Najib went out on a limb to maintain his so-called innocence, hindering critical 1MDB-related investigations by limiting cooperation between government agencies.
Is it not ironical that this man – the man being investigated by the Special Task Force for corruption and power abuse – disbands the very unit that is investigating him and sacks the man leading it on grounds of ‘conspiracy’?
Is it not curious that to this day, Najib has made no effort whatsoever to prove the ‘conspiracy’, not even during the SRC proceedings that eventually found him guilty of corruption and power abuse?
So who is going to say sorry to Gani and compensate him? Or was he already compensated and we were not told about it?
WAJIB TONTON:
