By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 27, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail should not have been involved in falsifying evidence in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 1998 “black eye” probe, a former senior policeman said today of his private meeting in October 2008 with the prime minister.

Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim, who has led a one-man campaign to remove the Attorney-General (AG), said he had met Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister, to discuss his allegations against Abdul Gani (picture) and the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

“Even though Gani’s intention might been to help the IGP (Tan Sri Rahim Noor), falsifying evidence is still wrong which he should not have done,” Mat Zain quoted Najib as telling him.

The former city criminal investigation chief also quoted Najib as saying “I got to know that (former IGP Tan Sri) Musa (Hassan)’s role was not as bad as Gani’s and I think he can get away with it.”

Excerpts from the conversation between Mat Zain and Najib are contained in a letter to the prime minister which the former policeman made available to the media today.

Mat Zain was the man responsible for investigations into former IGP Tan Sri Rahim Noor’s role in the assault of Anwar while he was in custody in 1998.

Rahim eventually confessed to assaulting Anwar, resulting in a black eye that Anwar sported during his court appearances then to face charges of sodomy and abuse of power.

Mat Zain has claimed that Abdul Gani, who had led the sodomy and corruption prosecutions against Anwar, and Musa fabricated evidence in the black-eye case.

In his latest letter to the PM, Mat Zain also accused the administration of “doing everything possible to avoid criminal charges” against Abdul Gani as the government would also be guilty of abusing its power in the last two decades.

“YAB Datuk Seri and the government will do everything possible to avoid any criminal charges against Gani.

“The government is worried that should Gani be proven to have abused his powers … then simultaneously the government would be guilty of having done the same thing since 1990,” he wrote.

In the letter, Mat Zain accused Abdul Gani of “screening criminal wrongdoings, abuse of power and corrupt practices, linked to VVIPs, prominent corporate figures and senior government officials, involving property and cash to the tune of several hundred of millions of ringgit … traceable to the early 90s.”

Putrajaya said earlier this month it will not take action against the A-G despite renewed allegations of corruption and the fabrication of evidence against the country’s top lawyer.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said that last year’s decision to close the door on the AG’s alleged involvement in Anwar’s black-eye case still stands.

Mat Zain has repeatedly attacked Abdul Gani in recent months, calling on Najib to sack the AG for failing to initiate charges in high-profile cases such as the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock while being held overnight for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

He has also pressed the PM to form a royal commission of inquiry or tribunal to investigate Abdul Gani’s role in destroying public confidence in the police.