SHAH ALAM: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has reached a settlement with Tan Sri Tommy Thomas in a lawsuit over the former attorney general’s memoir.
The settlement was recorded by High Court judge Justice Khadijah Idris yesterday without liberty to file afresh.
Also involved in the consent judgment is GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd, the publisher of Thomas’s memoir, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.
The court did not make an order as to costs.
Najib had sued Thomas and the publisher in October 2021, claiming that the book defamed him by linking him to a purported conspiracy to the murder of Mongolian interpreter, Altantuya Shaariibuu.
At a press conference after the settlement, Najib’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client agreed to withdraw the lawsuit without any order for legal costs.
Muhammad Shafee then read out a signed statement by Thomas, which stated:
“I stand by my statements and opinion expressed in Chapter 42 of my book, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, that Sirul and Azilah’s statutory declarations corroborated one another.
“I accept, however, that since the publication of my book in 2021, I am not aware of any evidence linking Najib to the murder of Altantuya, although I understand there has been investigations since the publication of the book.”
Najib had on Oct 27, 2021 sued Thomas and the publisher, claiming that the memoir had defamed him by linking him to the murder of Altantuya.
In his suit, Najib sought unspecified damages, the removal of words he claimed were defamatory, an apology and a permanent injunction to restrain further publication of such statements.
In 2009, two former policemen – Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar – were convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Altantuya, which took place at Mukim Bukit Raja in Shah Alam between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.
Azilah and Sirul were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013 but the Federal Court overturned their acquittal in 2015 and confirmed their conviction and death penalty.
Sirul, however, did not show up in court during the Federal Court’s decision and is believed to be in Australia.
In 2024, following an application by Azilah, the Federal Court commuted his death sentence to 40 years in prison and imposed 12 strokes of the cane.
