LETTER | The commentary titled “Is incompetency the perfect cover for conspiracy?” by R Nadeswaran, published in Malaysiakini on Dec 3, 2024, is, to say the least, quite amusing.
The writer posed a provocative question: Was Najib’s DNAA (discharge not amounting to acquittal) in the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) case a result of the Madani government’s incompetence, or was it evidence of their complicity in a conspiracy?
Najib’s release stemmed from an excessive delay - over six years - in the prosecution’s submission of critical documents to the court. The prosecution attributed the delay to their inability to declassify key documents, as the authority to do so under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) rested with the relevant ministers.
The ministries highlighted were the Finance Ministry and the Transport Ministry. Thus, is the writer suggesting that Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Transport Minister Anthony Loke are either incompetent or complicit in this alleged conspiracy?
Surprisingly, the writer omitted four critical questions:
Is the leaked 2019 internal memo from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which allegedly states there was no basis or evidence to charge Najib, authentic?
If the memo is authentic and confirms the lack of evidence, why did the Pakatan Harapan 1.0 government proceed with prosecuting Najib at that time?
If the memo is genuine, why did the government persist with the IPIC case for over five years, despite knowing by 2019 that the case lacked merit? Was this not a waste of judicial time and resources for the courts, judges, prosecution, and defence? How many other criminal cases - especially those involving defendants in custody without bail - have been delayed due to this misuse of judicial time?
If the case should never have been prosecuted and was merely a pretext to cancel the 2017 IPIC settlement agreement with the UAE, who is accountable for the US$5.7 billion (RM25.3 billion) loss? The 2023 IPIC settlement recovered only US$1.8 billion, far short of the US$7.5 billion sought under the original 2017 agreement.
One must wonder: Did the prosecution deliberately withhold the 2017 IPIC settlement documents and the 2019 AGC memo from court proceedings to prevent their disclosure and verification?
Consider the implications for the integrity of the government, Malaysia, and the AGC if both documents were exposed and confirmed in court.
Is this what the writer overlooked?
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
