Shafee Abdullah said Thomas had acknowledged in a statement recorded in court that there was no evidence linking Najib to the murder of the Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“You can call this a win because there is no evidence admitted by the defendant linking Najib to the murder,” he told reporters outside the High Court.

Shafee said Najib was never interested in monetary compensation but had wanted to protect his reputation following years of rumours linking him to the murder.

“For many years, my client has been upset because there was no evidence, yet rumours continued to link him to the murder,” he said.

Earlier today, Najib, Thomas and publisher GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd reached an amicable settlement over part of the contents of Thomas’s memoir, “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, published in early 2021.

The settlement was recorded by the High Court before Justice Khadijah Idris with no order as to costs and without liberty to file afresh.

Najib had sued Thomas and Gerakbudaya over allegedly defamatory statements in Chapter 42 of Thomas’s book, titled “Altantuya”.

The former Pekan MP sought unspecified damages, the removal of words he claimed were defamatory, an apology, and a permanent injunction to restrain further publication of such statements.