Mohamed Apandi Ali

Mohamed Apandi bin Ali (born 11 February 1950) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician who was the Attorney General of Malaysia from 2015 to 2018. Six months after assuming office, he cleared then prime minister Najib Razak of any wrongdoing in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and SRC International cases and marked the investigation for "no further action".

Education Apandi graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of London in 1972, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1973.

Career In 1973, Apandi joined the Malaysian Judicial and Legal Service, with his first assignment as Magistrate at Kuala Terengganu. Subsequently, he served as Director of Legal Aid in Kota Bharu, Kelantan (1975–77), Deputy Public Prosecutor for the States of Kelantan and Terengganu (1977–80), and Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Trade and Industry Malaysia (1980–82).

Between 1982 until 2003, Apandi engaged in private practice. In 1990, he contested the Pengkalan Chapa, Kelantan constituency as a candidate for the United Malay National Organization but lost with 26.5 percent of the votes. On 27 July 2015, then Prime Minister Najib Razak summarily dismissed the Attorney General of Malaysia, Abdul Gani Patail, and appointed Apandi to replace him. Apandi served as Attorney General until dismissed by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on 4 June 2018.

Controversies and issues 1MDB scandal

At a press conference on 26 January 2016, Apandi cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of wrongdoing in relation to the transfer of funds from Malaysian government company SRC to his personal bank accounts. Apandi declared that he was satisfied that the funds originated from a personal donation by the royal family of Saudi Arabia, had been returned, and marked the investigation for no further action. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission revealed that it intended to refer Apandi's decision of no further action to an independent review panel.

Former MCA president Ling Liong Sik challenged Apandi's conclusion. "People are shocked. ... I was having a dinner with an ex-minister, and he asked me to name one person who is given RM2.6 billion and returns it. ... (This) cannot be true. Do you believe it? If you return RM10 which I gave you, it's okay (but not RM2.6 billion). ... You are taking the people for fools."

On 15 May 2018, Mahathir placed Apandi on leave. Apandi and three other officials were barred from leaving Malaysia. On 4 June, Apandi was dismissed as Attorney General, and replaced by Tommy Thomas. In its judgement denying Najib's appeal, the Court of Appeal referred to the two flow charts as proving Najib's guilt.

Suggested freedom for Indonesian fugitive In 2009, Indonesian businessman, Djoko Tjandra, was convicted of corruption related to Bank Bali. He absconded to Papua New Guinea and then to Malaysia. On 22 July 2020, former Attorney General of Indonesia, Muhammad Prasetyo, recounted that Apandi had personally requested that he drop Djoko's conviction and allow him to return to Indonesia as a free man. Malaysiakini contacted Apandi for comment but he declined.

Legal suits Lim Kit Siang defamation case On 5 July 2019, Apandi sued Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri and Democratic Action Party adviser Lim Kit Siang regarding an article entitled "Dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia’s on the road to integrity" that Lim had published on May 6, 2019. Apandi claimed that the article had libelled him by saying that he was involved in crime and had abetted in the 1MDB scandal, was a person with no morals and integrity, was unethical and had abused his power when he was the Attorney General.

On 23 May 2022, Judge Azimah Omar of the High Court dismissed Apandi's suit and ordered Apandi to pay RM80,000 in costs to Lim. Judge Azimah said that Lim had succeeded in his defence of fair comment and qualified privilege. “Indeed, the plaintiff’s action and inaction seemed to have assisted 1MDB and those (purportedly) involved. ... The defendant (Lim) had concrete evidence to justify his statement, and the evidence gave reasonable grounds to investigate the plaintiff for cover-ups in 1MDB".

In grounds of decision totalling 100 pages, Judge Azimah Omar remarked that Apandi seemed disinterested and at times self contradictory when testifying in the suit against Lim Kit Siang. Apandi subsequently appealed the verdict.

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Honours