Ex-Solicitor-General III urges police to investigate Tommy Thomas for criminal defamation

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Solicitor-General III Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria lodged a police report against Tan Sri Tommy Thomas yesterday for alleged defamation in his recently released book "My Story: Justice in the Wilderness" and urged the police to investigate the former Attorney-General for criminal defamation.

Mohamad Hanafiah when contacted today confirmed to Bernama that he lodged the police report at the Cyberjaya police station in Sepang.

In his report, which was made available to the media, Mohamad Hanafiah claimed that an excerpt from the book had tarnished his image as a Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) who had served for 33 years.

He claimed that what Thomas wrote in page 248 of his book was not true as it made it seem that he (Mohamad Hanafiah) was lazy and not able to handle the prosecution in the SRC International trial.

Mohamad Hanafiah, who is now a lawyer in private practice, said the excerpt referred to the preparation of the prosecution team in that case against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2018, when he was the Trial and Appeals Division head at the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).

"The excerpt is definitely not true and it has a connotation and nuance that I was not capable to lead or to supervise the prosecution team, instead indicating that I was more comfortable with administrative duties.

"On the contrary, once Thomas instructed me to scrutinise the investigation paper (IP) for the SRC case, I formed a team of the best and most experienced DPPs to scrutinise all statements in the IP and to prepare the prosecution based on the statements that also involved various complex financial transactions,”complained 60-year-old former DPP.

He added that the issue of him leading the prosecution team did not arise, but his role was as a senior legal officer who had vast experience in prosecution.

However, he claimed that Thomas later informed the team that he was going to lead the team.

"For such a big case, it was only fitting for the AG to lead the prosecution, as many of his predecessors had done before," he said.

Explaining further, Mohamad Hanafiah said he was involved for trial preparation but two or three months before the trial was scheduled to start, Thomas told him not to be involved, instead instructed him to focus on administrative duties at the AGC.

"He never told me at any time that I was supposed to lead the prosecution team in the SRC case nor did he tell me that I was not capable of leading the team," he stressed.

Thus, Mohamad Hanafiah urged the police to investigate the case under Section 499 of the Penal Code for criminal defamation against him and also officers in the AGC as well as for disparaging the reputation and good name of the Chambers.

-- BERNAMA