Choice of new AG lauded
Appointment apt in view of Ahmad Terrirudin’s position as solicitor-general and number two after attorney-general, says Azalina
Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, who has been appointed as attorneygeneral effective Sept 6, is the perfect choice, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
She said the choice is the right one because of Ahmad Terrirudin’s position as solicitor-general and number two after the attorneygeneral.
She added that he assumed the position of Federal Court chief registrar on May 3, 2019.
“He is a professional, and I am confident that his appointment is the perfect choice. This is also an internal appointment within the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which comprises experts in the legal field, and represents the country’s legal sector,” she said.
Azalina expressed hope that the appointment would lead to continuity of the good work carried out by former attorney-general Tan Sri Idrus Harun and the AGC in general.
A law graduate from Universiti Malaya, Ahmad Terrirudin, 55, joined the judicial and legal service in 1995, serving in several positions such as senior assistant registrar of the High Court of Malaya, magistrate in Sibu, sessions court judge in Kuala Lumpur, and special officer to the chief justice of the Federal Court.
On claims by Umno Youth that internal memo documents of the AGC had been leaked, Azalina said the matter would be handled by the related agency.
She said Umno Youth could lodge a report with the police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and let the relevant agency probe the matter.
Earlier, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh was quoted as urging Ahmad Terrirudin to confirm whether there was a leak of the documents as claimed by social media reports.
Muhamad Akmal said if there was a leak, Umno Youth would lodge a report with the MACC soon and urged its members to lodge police reports as well.
There was also the issue of a leaked memorandum relating to the grounds of the AGC’s decision on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s final appeal against his conviction in the SRC International corruption case, Bernama reported.
The allegedly leaked 12-page memo, which was circulated online, stated that an evaluation found on the available evidence in the case involving Najib and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah was deemed to be “grossly insufficient” to prove a prima facie case for the six charges.
The memo was purportedly sent by the lead prosecutor in the case Datuk Jamil Aripin to Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, who was the attorney-general at the time.