KUALA LUMPUR: Former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas averred that the appointment of an eight-member special task force (STF) to investigate his conduct as the AG was for "political bullets".
He said the appointment was not for the purposes of a genuine enquiry or fact finding exercise, but for "political bullets" to be used for private and political purposes in respect of elections and in retaliation for his preference of criminal charges against members of Umno.
In a statement of claim filed in a suit brought against the government and the eight members of STF earlier this month, Thomas also said that on Oct 17, 2022, the then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had publicly announced that he had declassified the report so that it could be used as "political bullets".
Thomas claimed that Ismail Sabri told a Barisan Nasional rally in Bagan Datuk, Perak that the latter asked the then Law Minister to publish the report.
Ismail Sabri was quoted to have said; "l have given you bullets. In the Thomas case, we exposed (the report) by the special task force. I have given lots of bullets here.
"I asked the de facto law minister to publish it on their website, to detail what was done and what mistakes Thomas made.
"I told the attorney-general to take immediate action (against Thomas) under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), defamation law and so on. I told him to bring up this issue immediately.
"So, if this is already brought up, we cannot just leave it like that. We must capitalise on this issue to attack them."
More than 200 pages of the report were declassified by the then government and published on the website of the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister Department.
On Oct 2, it was reported that Thomas's lawsuit against STF, which probed his infamous memoir "My Story: Justice in The Wilderness", will go for a full trial.
High Court Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh instructed that Thomas's originating summons (OS) against the defendants be converted into a civil suit, where the witnesses would testify in court
An OS is a legal document used to initiate civil proceedings seeking specific remedies often without the need for a full trial.
In Oct last year, Thomas filed the OS seeking a declaration that an eight-member task force formed by the government to investigate claims in his memoir, is an unlawful body.
In 2021, Thomas created a furore after his memoir "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness" made claims that there was abuse of power in the appointment of judges, the executive interfering in the judiciary, selective prosecution and breach of the oath of secrecy.
Later that year, it prompted the government, under Ismail Sabri's administration, to set up an eight-member task force to investigate.
The establishment of the STF to investigate the claims at the time was in accordance with the cabinet's executive powers under Article 39 of the Federal Constitution.
This prompted Thomas to file an OS by naming STF team members – Datuk Seri Fong Joo Chung, Datuk Seri Hashim Paijam, Datuk Dr Junaidah Kamarruddin, Datuk Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, Datuk Shaharudin Ali, K. Balaguru, Farah Adura Hamidi, Mohd Najib Surip and the government as defendants.
Thomas claimed the establishment of the illegal STF to purportedly enquire into his conduct and make findings against him was illegal and ultra vires.