He said a monitoring committee had agreed with the initial findings of the eight-member task force, which was formed last year to look into the allegations made by Thomas.

He had written on such matters as the appointment of judges, excessive interference by the executive in the judiciary, and selective prosecution.

“The task force focussed on fact-finding on the claims made in the book,” Wan Junaidi said.

“The task force had conducted observations and thorough analysis on the book based on the terms of reference approved by the Cabinet.

“The consultation meetings that were held enabled these analyses and observations to be tested effectively with documents and information obtained to ensure that the facts and claims made in the book could be verified.”

He said the task force had organised 10 consultation meetings from Dec 23 last year until April 12.

Those consulted included the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police, Judicial Appointments Commission, the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court, the finance ministry, the foreign ministry, plantation industries and commodities ministry, and certain individuals.

The task force is chaired by former Sarawak attorney-general and state legal advisor Fong Joo Chung.

Other members are former Sabah state secretary Hashim Paijan; former secretary-general of women, family and community development ministry Junaidah Kamarruddin; former judge Jagjit Singh Bant Singh; lawyers Shaharudin Ali and Balaguru Karuppiah; and government representatives Farah Adura Hamidi and Mohd Najib Surip.