Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 3, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas has withdrawn from taking part in a decision on whether to continue prosecuting Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng over two allegations of corruption, according to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

“Regarding Lim Guan Eng’s prosecution case, because the case has received so much publicity, we wish to report that the Attorney-General [has] recused himself in all deliberations and will not be involved in any decision that the AGC will take in that pending case,” the AGC said in a media statement yesterday.

The statement was signed by Solicitor-General Datuk Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek and Solicitor-General 2 Datin Paduka Zauyah Be T Loth Khan.

The AGC’s remark follows a statement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission last Wednesday denying that it would withdraw two corruption charges against Guan Eng, as it does not have the authority to remove cases taken to court.

When Thomas was appointed the top government lawyer, the AGC said he had publicly declared that he was not immune from the conflict of interest rule.

“Having regard to the clients he acted for, and the adverse parties in such litigation when he was practising the bar, the AG’s position is to adhere to the two solutions that the law provides in such circumstances,” the AGC added.

For the first solution and in cases where his involvement is of a personal nature, such as counsel and friend, the AGC said Thomas would recuse himself altogether.

As for the second solution and in cases where the AG deems his recusal is not required, the AGC said Thomas would declare his interest to the other members in the decision-making team.

“He then participates as a member of the team in such matters,” it said.

On June 30, 2016, Guan Eng, who was then the chief minister of Penang, pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption involving the conversion of agricultural land to residential status and the purchase of a bungalow at below market value.

He was charged with using his position as the chief minister to gain gratification for himself and wife Betty Chew Gek Cheng by approving the application for conversion of agricultural land to a public housing zone in Balik Pulau for Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd.

He faces a second charge of using his position to obtain a plot of land and bungalow at No 25, Jalan Pinhorn on July 28, 2015 from businesswoman Phang Li Koon for RM2.8 million, at below market value.

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