SULAIMAN Abdullah, one of Malaysia’s top legal minds, has died at the age of 77. 

His only son, playwright Huzir Sulaiman, informed family and friends of the senior lawyer’s death.  

“I regret to inform you that my father, Dato’ Haji Sulaiman Abdullah, passed away peacefully this evening (18 December 2023),” Huzir said in the message.  

He said the funeral rites would be held on Tuesday at the Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Aziz, Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya, at 1.10pm following zohor prayers. 

Sulaiman’s wife, the late Prof Dr Mehrun Siraj, passed away on June 29, 2021. 

Sulaiman comes from a prominent family that included his late brother G.K. Rama Iyer – a top civil servant and the first Malaysian Airline System chairman – and educationist G. Krishna Iyer who taught in Penang Free School. 

He had 55 years of legal experience and was appointed lead prosecutor in former prime minister Najib Razak’s RM42 million 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial in 2018. 

Sulaiman had his early education at SK Wellesley, SK Francis Light, and Penang Free School, all in Penang, and later graduated with a law degree from the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) in 1969 and started his practice the same year. 

Sulaiman also holds a master’s degree in law from University of London (1979) and a diploma in syariah law and practice from the International Islamic University Malaysia (1992), and was a Universiti Malaya law lecturer (1973-1984). 

Sulaiman was the Malaysian Bar secretary (1993-1995) and its president (2000 to 2001), and has been a member of its governing body, the Bar Council, for substantial periods since 1989. 

In the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis where the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government collapsed, Sulaiman acted as lead counsel for Nizar Jamaluddin who sought to reclaim his position as Perak menteri besar. 

Despite an initial win for Nizar in the High Court, the Court of Appeal eventually ruled that Nizar’s Barisan Nasional rival Zambry Abdul Kadir was the lawful menteri besar. The Federal Court unanimously upheld in February 2010 the decision against Nizar. – December 19, 2023.