'The great judicial heist': Mahathir Mohammad continues onslaught on Malaysian judicial independence

The judiciary has always been a target of the political despot, Mahathir Mohammad, since his earlier tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia. As highlighted in Malaysia Gazette on 24 October 2022, Mahathir continuously clashed with the Malaysian judiciary in the 80s. He, allegedly, had weaponised the media to attack judicial independence.

Due to intense media pressure, Tun Salleh Abbas, the then chief justice, and 20 other high court judges had written to the monarch pleading the Mahathir-led-government stop its meddling with the judiciary. This letter, however, was used by Mahathir as grounds for a large-scale reshuffle in the national judiciary. He wrote to the monarch to replace Chief Justice Tun Salleh. He alleged that Tun Salleh had lost his ability to make sound decisions. Tun Salleh was eventually forced to resign given the intense media and political pressure mounted by Mahathir. This episode has been widely documented in the annals of Malaysian history as a very, very dark period in Malaysia’s judicial independence.

Sadly, history has a habit of repeating itself when actors reemerge as described in detail in a report that was recently declassified by the Malaysian government. A Special Task Force (STF) was established in December 2021 to investigate the allegations and self-incriminating statements in the book written by former attorney general, Tommy Thomas, entitled My Story: Justice in the Wilderness. Tommy was appointed by Mahathir and his group of political compatriots, which included Lim Guan Eng, the then Secretary General of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), upon winning the 2018 general election. As Tommy confesses in his book, he was indeed a political appointee conveniently planted from outside of the Government Attorney General’s Chambers.

According to Malaysia Gazette, the STF revealed that Mahathir, in collusion with Tommy, had repeatedly violated the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2009 (Act 695) (JAC). The Mahathir-Tommy duo, had surreptitiously undone the recommendations of the Judicial Appointments Commission on several occasions to circumvent promotions of senior judges, including that of the position of the Chief Justice of Malaysia. This raises serious doubts about the independence and impartiality of the judicial bench that oversaw the trial of the former prime minister, Najib Razak.

It is no wonder that several leaders, including Najib’s close associate and the current Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Coalition party, Zahid Hamidi, have voiced serious concerns over the so-called “selective prosecution” that was carried out by this duo.

Interestingly, Tommy was the lead defence counsel for Lim Guan Eng who was himself facing corruption charges prior to the 2018 general elections. This case was summarily dismissed by Tommy immediately upon being appointed to the position of attorney general. The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission was reportedly taken by surprise by this unilateral move by the then attorney general. Several other ongoing corruption cases against politicians aligned to Mahathir and Lim were also dismissed overnight. This in itself raises serious questions on Tommy’s integrity and conflict(s) of interest.

The STF has further highlighted several laws and regulations that may have been breached by Tommy Thomas, possibly in cahoots with Mahathir. These include several penal code offences, contravention of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act of 2009, the Official Secrets Act of 1972, The Sedition Act of 1948 and several Government regulations and procedures.

This begs the question of, not only, the integrity of the Mahathir-Tommy duo but also the loose coalition that managed to cobble together a government that lasted for a mere 22 months. Furthermore, the possible “selective prosecution” and the judicial machinations, as detailed by the government established Task Force, raises serious doubts over judicial independence. Hence, the question: “Did Najib Razak receive a fair trial as enshrined in the Malaysian constitution?”

The author is a Malaysia-based political analyst. Views are personal.

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