KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Newly-appointed Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun has given the green light to Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram to continue leading the prosecution team in high-profile cases, including those involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Idrus, when contacted by reporters, said the directive also applies to lawyer Datuk V. Sithambaram, who is also an ad hoc prosecutor, as well as to the prosecution team handling the SRC International Sdn Bhd case involving Najib.
Earlier, Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge who is serving as a senior deputy public prosecutor, said Idrus had called him to say to “go ahead” also with the prosecution against other high-profile figures.
“This is nothing new. He (AG) called and informed me, go ahead … I understood that to be the position,” he told reporters after Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s graft trial at the High Court here yesterday.
Sri Ram is the lead prosecutor in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial, Najib and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy’s joint trial on the tampering of the 1MDB audit report, Rosmah’s graft trial relating to a solar hybrid project in Sarawak and Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s money-laundering case.
Last Friday, Federal Court judge Idrus was appointed the new AG to succeed Tan Sri Tommy Thomas who had resigned. Idrus was appointed for a two-year term effective March 6.
— Bernama
