KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): A member of a task force set up to investigate the 1MDB scandal told the High Court here today that former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali had never pressured them to exonerate former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abduk Razak in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Testifying in Apandi’s lawsuit against DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, Muhamad Anas Mahadzir, 43, who currently is a Shah Alam Sessions Court judge, testified that when he was a deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in 2015, he was put in the task force to investigate the troubled sovereign wealth fund.

He said that Apandi’s only instructions to the task force that consisted of five other DPPs was to “be objective” in their investigations and brief him on their recommendations.

The others assigned to the task force were former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Noor Zalizan Lazarous, Saiful Hazmi Mohd Saad and Nazran Mohd Sham, who were all DPPs at that time.

Apandi’s lawyer M Visvanathan had asked Anas a series of questions regarding their findings and the task force.

Visvanathan: Had there been any pressure from Apandi to exonerate Najib?

Anas: There was no pressure on myself and the team to exonerate Najib.

Visvanathan: To the best of your knowledge, was there any pressure to exonerate Najib?

Anas: There was no pressure. He (Apandi) in fact instructed all of us to be objective in perusing the Investigation Papers.

Apandi is suing Lim Kit Siang over an article written by the veteran politician on May 6, 2019, in which he called for the former Attorney-General to explain why he “aided and abetted in the 1MDB scandal”.

When asked by Visvanathan if Apandi had “aided and abetted in the 1MDB scandal”, Anas disagreed with the suggestion.

“No. He did not aid and abet the former Prime Minister,” he replied.

Anas then said that the task force had recommended that further investigations be conducted into 1MDB before any charges were drawn up.

He also said that they never received any orders from Apandi to close the investigation.

The trial continues tomorrow morning before Justice Datuk Azimah Omar.