PETALING JAYA: Former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali claims that Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram has "a mission with clear bias" against former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Apandi said this in an affidavit he affirmed on June 12 in support of Najib's application to remove Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, as the lead prosecutor in the 1MDB audit tampering trial.
In the affidavit, Apandi also repeated his claims that Sri Ram had tried to convince him to arrest Najib in January 2018.
This is a claim Apandi first made on his Facebook page on June 10, when he alleged that that Sri Ram visited him under the instructions of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and told him:
"Brother, you will be a hero in the eyes of the people and you will be the first Attorney General to arrest a sitting Prime Minister."
The incident alleged by Apandi happened four months before the historic 14th General Election in May 2018 which saw Pakatan Harapan defeating Barisan Nasional to become the government.
Apandi, who was appointed as the Attorney General in July 2015, had his service terminated by the then Pakatan government in June 2018.
In the affidavit, Apandi said he had asked Sri Ram via WhatsApp after the change of government on his position as the Attorney General as there were news that he was to be sacked.
"I asked GSR (Gopal Sri Ram) about this because I knew he was advising Tun Dr Mahathir, the Prime Minister then.
"In one of his messages to me, GSR told me he really wished that I had followed his advice and charged 'that criminal Najib'. He also said in the same message that Datuk Seri Najib and his wife are certain 'to face the music'," said Apandi.
He said he replied to Sri Ram by saying that he acted honestly based on the facts, the law and contents of the investigation papers.
Apandi added that he was surprised by Sri Ram's attitude when the latter replied that the mere fact that monies were in Najib's account by itself was sufficient to charge him.
"I was surprised by his attitude, which exemplified an unreasonable approach especially coming from a former apex court judge and an eminent criminal defence counsel who had always been preaching the right to a fair trial, especially for an accused person.
"So I retorted by saying that with regard to the RM2.6bil case investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), there were sufficient explanations by the accused that satisfied the investigation agency.
"I also said the MACC came out twice with press statements exculpating Datuk Seri Najib," he added.
Sri Ram then told him that a prosecutor was not concerned with the defence's version of the story and that all a prosecutor needed was prima facie evidence of a crime and for the accused to give his explanation in court.
"I have never heard of such a jaundiced view coming out from the mouth of purportedly such an experienced person. I concluded that GSR had a mission with a clear bias against Datuk Seri Najib said in all of Datuk Seri Najib's cases," he said.
On June 12, Najib filed an application to have Sri Ram recused in the 1MDB report tampering case, as the trial is set to resume on Monday (June 15).
Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the application was supported by two affidavits, one by Najib and another by Apandi.
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