00:00The Court of Appeal has allowed former Attorney General Tommy Thomas' appeal to recuse a high
00:07court judge from hearing a malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by former Minister Shahrir Samad.
00:14Justice Faiza Jamaludin said a superior court bench would be in a better position to assess
00:19whether there was any bias on the part of the trial judge, Justice Rose Mawarozain,
00:24as they were not involved in the case.
00:27Faiza, who read the broad grounds of the unanimous decision,
00:31said the court perceives that there is a real danger of bias on the part of the trial judge,
00:35even if it might be unintentional.
00:38The judge was ordered to be recused from hearing the trial and all related proceedings.
00:44The bench ordered Shahrir to pay Thomas RM30,000 in costs.
00:49Shahrir, a former Johor Bahru MP, filed the suit in December 2022
00:53over a RM1 million cheque from former Prime Minister Najib Razak,
00:57said to be intended for housing project restoration in Markin, Johor.
01:01Thomas, who was Attorney General from June 2018 to February 2020,
01:05denies any abuse of power and says prosecution decisions were made
01:09only after reviewing investigation papers from the relevant agencies.
01:14Natasha Buz, FMT.
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