Crime & Courts

Heated moments in Apandi's lawsuit against Kit Siang

KUALA LUMPUR: There were some heated moments in former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali's defamation suit against DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang today.

This happened when Lim's counsel accused the former AG of trying to cover up the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Apandi, who testified today, was bombarded with multiple questions by Ramkarpal Singh, who represented Lim.

Ramkarpal questioned Apandi's role in clearing Datuk Seri Najib Razak's involvement in the scandal and his role as Umno disciplinary board chairman.

This prompted Apandi's lawyer M. Visvanathan to interject several times.

He accused Ramkarpal of conducting a "trial by ambush", which is prejudicial and embarrassing to his client.

Apandi, who is also a former Federal Court judge, is seeking RM10 million in general damages from the DAP senior leader for allegedly defaming him on his role in the 1MDB scandal.

The drama unfolded when Ramkarpal asked Apandi about his resignation as the chairman of the Umno disciplinary board two years ago after the collapse of Barisan National as the federal government.

Apandi said he helmed the position for about a year and resigned as he was disappointed with the interference of the party's leadership.

Ramkarpal: What was the reason (for your resignation)?

Apandi: I was disappointed because the party president interfered with the disciplinary board. It (disciplinary board) should be free from any interference, like a court.

Ramkarpal: Is this related to the show cause letter to Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who purportedly had a meeting with Datuk Seri Azmin Ali for the Sheraton Move which led to the fall of Pakatan Harapan government?

Visvanathan then rose to argue that the line of questioning posed by the defence counsel was not related to the lawsuit.

"This is not a political forum… why is he asking my client on the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government? Counsel should stick to the bundle of documents that we prepared before the hearing.

"Please go to Parliament if he wants to make this into a political forum," he said before the court adjourned.

Later, Apandi denied that he had instructed the authorities to stop investigations into Najib and SRC International even after he cleared the former prime minister's name during a press conference.

He said all the statements that he made were based on evidence gathered by the authorities at that point in time.

Apandi also said that he did not receive any report from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Review Panel over their investigation on the sovereign wealth fund.

Ramkarpal: However, reports by Reuters quoted panel member Datuk Lim Chee Wee as saying that MACC had submitted their evidence but you refused to act upon it. He said this was the biggest disappointment. Do you agree that this allegation is damaging against you?

Apandi: Yes.

Ramkarpal: You were given a chance to respond (to the article) but refused because all the allegations are true.

Apandi: I disagree.

Ramkarpal: MACC had completed its investigation and handed the paper to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Apandi: I disagree. It was not completed.

Ramkarpal: Then why during a press conference, you cleared Najib from any wrongdoing?

Apandi: I cleared his name in respect to the RM2.6 billion donation… not everything.

Ramkarpal argued that Apandi had no basis to clear Najib's name as the investigations by the authorities were still ongoing, which the latter disagreed.

The proceedings tensed up again when Ramkarpal brought up the ruling of High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who found Najib guilty of SRC International related charges.

Ramkarpal questioned Apandi by referring to several paragraphs of Nazlan's 780-page judgment, which annoyed the plaintiff's counsel.

Leslie Andres, [05.04.21 18:48]

Apandi, who is now a solicitor, claimed that Lim in his article published by news portal Malaysiakini implied that the plaintiff had a major role in aiding and abetting the 1MDB fiasco.

The article titled "Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia is on the road to integrity" was published on May 6, 2019.

Apandi said the article had tainted his reputation by claiming that he was directly involved, assisted and abetted in the 1MDB scandal.

The hearing continues before High Court Judge Datuk Azimah Omar.

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