Former AG Apandi files police report against Thomas
KUALA LUMPUR: Former attorney general Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali has joined the growing number of people who have lodged police reports against his successor Tan Sri Tommy Thomas over his recently released book My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.
Apandi filed the police report at the Sentul police headquarters yesterday, claiming the purpose of the police report is for justice to be done for him and members of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC).
He also claimed that Thomas had violated the Official Secrets Acts through the publication of his memoir.
“It’s (the police report) seeking justice, not only for me, but for others who have been scandalised and humiliated by the book, especially officers of the Attorney General’s Chambers.
“They are caught in a predicament of having to defend themselves and at the same time, going against their former head of department,” he said in a statement, which was distributed to pressmen outside the police headquarters yesterday.
Apandi, who was accompanied by lawyer Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, spent about 45 minutes filing the report.
“As a former AG, I sympathise with the officers who have been looked down in a condescending manner by Thomas.
“This is very unbecoming of him as he should realise that the officers are the backbone of the legal service.
“I can vouch for the officers that they are dedicated and I couldn’t find fault with their service during my tenure,” he added.
Apandi, who was AG from 2015 to 2018, also said he would never disclose state secrets despite being “bashed” throughout his tenure as AG.
As a former AG too, despite being bashed throughout my tenure, there will be many things that will never cross my lips because they are secrets of the state and they will remain as such.
Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali
“As a former AG too, despite being bashed throughout my tenure, there will be many things that will never cross my lips because they are secrets of the state and they will remain as such.
“Therefore none will ever grace the pages of my memoirs.
“I subscribe to this pearl of wisdom: Knowledge is knowing what to say, Wisdom is knowing when to say it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Umno Youth also lodged a report against Thomas.
The reports were made by its exco member Muhamad Nur Aizat Noor Azam and Datuk Muhammad Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin at the Jalan Travers police station yesterday.
In a press statement, the movement asked the police to investigate Thomas for revealing government secrets in his book.
It added Thomas was using his memoirs to “hide the mistakes made during his tenure”.
His allegations could besmirch the image of the country’s judiciary and legal system, Umno Youth said.
Earlier, former solicitor-general III Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria who lodged a police report against Thomas, claimed that an excerpt from Thomas’ book had tarnished his image as a Deputy Public Prosecutor who served for 33 years.
“What he wrote was not true as he supposedly made it seem that I was lazy and was not able to handle the prosecution in the SRC International trial,” he said in his police report at Cyberjaya police station on Tuesday.
Hanafiah said the excerpts referred to the preparation of the prosecution team in the case against Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2018, when he was the Trial and Appeals division head at the AGC.
Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Fadzil Ahmat said police would be calling up Thomas to record his statement.