KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): Klang member of Parliament (MP) Charles Santiago has lodged a police report against former attorney general (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, alleging that Apandi had fabricated information and lied while in office, leading to abuse of his powers as the principal legal advisor of the country.
From the decision delivered by High Court Justice Datuk Azimah Omar in Apandi’s defamation suit against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, it was evident that Apandi, who was the AG, abused his powers by blatantly lying about the investigations into SRC International Sdn Bhd and 1Malaysia Development Bhd with the intent to set Najib free from facing trial, Santiago said in a statement on Wednesday (July 27).
“In her judgment, Azimah noted that Apandi’s delegation 'did not even meet nor speak to the alleged donor' despite saying otherwise in a press conference on Jan 26, 2016.
“At the press session, Apandi claimed that he sent a mission to Riyadh and had personally met the donor and recorded the donor’s personal confirmation of the donation (para 79 page 42-43).
“He then proceeded to clear Najib of all wrongdoings, confirming that the RM42 million in Najib’s account was a donation from a Saudi prince. This is a blatant lie,” the MP said.
Santiago noted that Azimah further said Apandi’s “testimony admitting to adopt the donation narrative as a whole, although in gross absence of direct evidence, and in preference to low-hanging fruits of his delegation’s hearsay evidence” has “exhibited a plain, disinterested, evasive, and disassociated attitude to investigate the donation further and preferred to simply depend on his own delegation’s word of mouth”.
“Azimah, in her judgement, said Apandi was 'astoundingly indifferent, evasive, deceptive, and lackadaisical' in 'pursuing the truth behind the fantastical donation',” he added.
The lawmaker highlighted that while the court also noted that although a special investigation team recommended that the matter be fully investigated, Apandi failed to do so and instead ordered no further action.
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