THE undersigned organisations urge Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to announce a concrete timeline for the separation of the Public Prosecutor (PP) from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
Further, before the AGC-PP separation is complete, the PM must make a commitment to the public that the AGC will not file for Discharge Amounting to Acquittal (DAA) or Discharge Not Amounting to Acquittal (DNAA), withdraw its appeal, fail to file an appeal in time, or commit litigative errors to enable an acquittal, for any case of corruption, power abuse, money laundering, criminal breach of trust or tax evasion involving politicians, their families and associates.
If any VIP suspect were to walk free from their charges, it must be the decision of the judges after full trial and upon the final appeal, not that of the AG appointed by PM.
While we welcome the AGC’s immediate announcement to file appeal against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s acquittal today by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on all her 12 charges on money laundering involving RM 7 million and five charges on tax evasion, it is far from enough to restore public confidence.
High Court judge K Muniandy ruled that the charges were bad in law. The money-laundering charges apparently did not even specify the key elements of the money-laundering offences.
In fact, the public confidence in AGC has long been shattered by a series of flawed decisions or misconducts, which include:
• December 12, 2024: just last week, the AGC withdrew its appeal to the Court of Appeal, against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk SEri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s earlier acquittal on 40 corruption charges related to Foreign Visa System (VLS) at the Court of Appeal.
• November 27, 2024: the AGC failed to deliver the necessary documents for the trial to proceed, resulting in a DNAA for former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the charge on criminal breach of trust involving International Petroleum Investment Company in the sum of RM6.6 billion
• September 4, 2023: the AGC applied for DNAA for Zahid Hamidi on all his 47 charges after the 77 days of trial, testimony by 99 prosecution witnesses and a prima facie case.
• September 12, 2023, the AGC failed to file the appeal documents in time, resulting in the affirmation of an acquittal for former PM Najib Razak on the tampering of 1MDB audit documents.
PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cannot excuse his responsibility, as he tried in DPM Zahid’s DNAA case, when kleptocrats walk free under the watch of the AGs he chose and put in place.
As long as the Public Prosecutor is not separated from the AGC, and the AG’s tenure is controlled by the PM, the buck stops at the PM, not the AG. – December 19, 2024
The signatories of the above statement are:
Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA)
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)
Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (GERAK)
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih)
Institut Reformasi Politik dan Demokrasi (Reform)
Engage
Agora Society Malaysia
Rasuah Busters
Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM)
Aliran