The Malaysian Insight

IF it were up to the politicians, Najib Razak would have been arrested and charged with a string of offences by now.

Indeed, there is some frustration among the Pakatan Harapan (PH) corps that the former prime minister is still a free man, more than six weeks after he and Barisan Nasional were ushered out of Putrajaya.

Judging from comments on social media, anger is percolating among some ordinary Malaysians that Najib’s day of reckoning ‎has not arrived. 

This sentiment is understandable, especially against the backdrop of ‎the astonishing and obscene amount of jewellery and cash found at properties linked to the former first couple.

So what gives? What’s the delay in arresting Najib and charging him for offences under the anti-money laundering act?

The simple answer is: professionalism.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is not a politician. He does not need to play to the gallery. He has been given a two-year term by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and chief among his responsibilities is to nail all those linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

A senior lawyer with more than four decades of experience arguing cases in court, Thomas knows that you only go to court when you are satisfied that you have covered all the bases and the witnesses’ testimonies can withstand cross-examination.

To say that this is a high-profile case is an understatement. Media interest in Malaysia over the return of Dr Mahathir and Najib’s political demise has only been matched by the coverage of  the sacking and jailing of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.

Then, the Malaysian government had put on a show that resulted in the world laughing and ridiculing our legal system. Who can forget the porous prosecution led by then attorney-general Mokhtar Abdullah and Abdul Gani Patail?

Who can forget the many instances prosecution witnesses were demolished within an hour of being on the stand by the superb defence team led by the late Raja Aziz Addruse?

Who can forget the prosecution having to make amendments to the charges to cover embarrassing mistakes?

The world’s media watched from the press gallery and reported with incredulity the amateurish prosecution trial of the former deputy prime minister.

New Malaysia cannot afford its legal system to suffer another black eye. The new Mahathir administration that promises to deliver a more transparent, independent and rule of law-based legal system has to be seen to be ticking those boxes in the trial of the decade.

Ultimately, it is to the benefit of the ordinary Malaysian or the small man that the person in charge of bringing prosecution is influenced only by the files in front of him, and not by pressure from outside sources.

We cannot have a return to the days when we faced enforcement action from government agencies and prosecution as part of a political shakedown or because we had offended some little Napoleon. Or because, it was the politically expedient thing to do.

If the new AG of the Mahathir administration is being more meticulous and thorough in preparing the case against Najib, that’s a good development. It means that he knows that he believes that he is not going to get a free pass in court simply because he represents the government of the day.

He has to win on merit.

Thomas was brought into the system precisely for this reason: to give confidence to Malaysians and foreigners that the new government truly wants a clean break from the past. – June 28, 2018.