KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into former Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ controversial memoir is not a revenge or fault-finding mission, but rather seen as a better avenue to look into his book, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, according to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
“This isn’t the royal commission of blaming or punishing, or imprisonment. In my statement [on the RCI] I have mentioned that no one is looking for anyone’s fault,” she said at a press conference after an Institutional Reform Workshop here.
When asked if this was an act of revenge from the government: “How can it be revenge if you don't know what you want to revenge on?”
The government decided on forming the RCI after the cabinet received the independent task force's report on the book. The task force that was chaired by former Sarawak AG Datuk Seri Fong Joo Chung was set up to investigate allegations raised in Thomas' book, which chronicled the former public prosecutor's life, including his time in office between June 2018 and Feb 2020.
Thomas had previously said he refused to cooperate with the special task force as he wanted to protect the office of the AG, according to news reports in October. “[The special task force’s] establishment and existence was without any legal basis and would set a dangerous precedent, putting at risk the independence of the office of the AG, to the prejudice of [the] incumbent and future AGs of Malaysia,” he reportedly said in a letter to the task force dated Jan 5, 2022.
Azalina said the RCI is to look at the bigger picture of the book, as compared to the task force.
“I think the RCI is a much better structure and it gives people a better avenue to defend themselves… The RCI has an ability to enquire and it should enquire.
“Let the RCI stand for itself and present the terms of reference to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” added Azalina.
The previous government under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Thomas was believed to have committed four offences, based on investigations into the contents of Thomas' book.
Ismail Sabri said last October that the offences Thomas allegedly committed relate to the Penal Code, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and the Official Secrets Act (OSA). “We will leave this to the relevant authorities: if it is [an] MACC case, the MACC will investigate, if it is under the Penal Code, the police will investigate,” he told the press then.
He also said the report by the special task force that looked into Thomas’ memoir had been declassified and made available on the website of the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department.
Thomas, meanwhile, is suing the task force. The government has indicated that it would file an application to strike out the suit.
Read also: