Najib Abdul Razak has filed a lawsuit against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas and the government over his alleged wrongful prosecution for several criminal cases.
Through law firm Raj, Ong & Yudistra, the former prime minister filed the lawsuit at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 22. The legal action named Thomas and the government as defendants.
Najib claimed that the charges filed against him during Thomas’ tenure were “part of a long-planned, premeditated exercise”.
“This was also in line with the then (Pakatan Harapan) government’s plan.
“As an AG, he (Thomas) carried out his duties, at least in relation to the plaintiff (Najib), as if he was a ‘PH agent’,” Najib said in his statement of claim.
Najib further alleged that Thomas had in 2012 formed an opinion against him in relation to 1MDB.
“Thomas claimed he received sufficient anecdotal evidence that ‘a massive fraud had been perpetrated’.
“After the general election in May 2018, he (Thomas) had made up his mind to charge the plaintiff before studying the cases,” he said, pointing out that Thomas had formed a prejudiced mindset against him.
Najib also contended there was a meeting held between Thomas and Mahathir along with the inspector-general of police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers in 2018.
“MACC repeatedly told Mahathir that they did not find any wrongdoing, but Thomas proceeded to charge the plaintiff,” he said.
The former premier claimed that the government is vicariously liable for the alleged acts done by Thomas.
Najib added that after Thomas left as AG, he used “inside knowledge of the prosecution and made disparaging remarks” despite the ongoing trials.
“As a former AG, he should not make sub judice comments that will influence the trials,” he said, making reference to Thomas’ biography “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.
According to the online cause list, the matter is fixed for case management before the Kuala Lumpur High Court Registry on Nov 19.
Back in February, it was reported that Najib filed a letter of demand against Thomas over the contents in the biography linking him to the death of Mongolian national Altantuya Sahriibuu.
Najib then had demanded the now civil practice lawyer to retract the memoir, issue an apology and pay RM10 million damages in relation to allegations contained in the book.