He said Apandi had cleared former prime minister Najib Razak of any wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal, but the Pekan MP had been thrown in jail after nine judges found him guilty of corruption in the SRC International case.
In a blog post, the former prime minister claimed this “clearly showed” Apandi’s involvement in allegedly covering up the 1MDB scandal.
“I don’t have anything against the investigation into Thomas’ book. If (the authorities) feel there’s a basis to charge him or anyone else for that matter, including me, the law allows for action to be taken,” Mahathir said.
“However, it is very peculiar that up till now no investigation or action has been taken against Apandi.”
The Pejuang chairman pointed out that justice Azimah Omar, in her 100-page judgment dismissing Apandi’s defamation suit against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, had described the former as a “liar” and that he “failed to carry out his duty as AG”.
Mahathir said Azimah also ruled that there was basis to probe Apandi for allegedly conspiring to cover up the 1MDB scandal.
“After Azimah made this statement, many police reports had been lodged against Apandi but no action had been taken. Instead, he was appointed to lead the special task force that studied the Batu Puteh case.”
The incumbent Langkawi MP claimed the allegations against Thomas, which also implicated him, were attempts to prevent him from speaking out on government misconduct.
Nonetheless, he said, he would never keep silent as long as he lived.
Thomas is being probed for sedition, potential breaches of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and sections of the Penal Code over his book titled “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.
His memoir was published in January last year.
A declassified government report on the book stated that Thomas, while AG, had wanted Mahathir “to do his bidding in a manner contrary to the law” in appointing three lawyers as Court of Appeal judges.
It also noted that Thomas and Mahathir had agreed on the appointments of three top judges though they were not recommended by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
The three judges were Richard Malanjum, Ahmad Maarop and David Wong, who were appointed chief justice, Court of Appeal president, and chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, in July 2018.
The report also accused Mahathir of breaching the constitution by appointing Wong as chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, as the then prime minister failed to consult the respective state chief ministers beforehand, as required by the Federal Constitution.
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