THE special task force formed to probe allegations of judicial abuses alleged in former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ book has identified 19 issues requiring immediate government attention, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

“It will be tabled in the cabinet and we will have to decide the way forward,” he said in a statement issued today.

However, Wan Junaidi did not indicate whether the report would be made public.

According to the minister, the task force spent nine months investigating the claims made in the book.

The special team was chaired by Sarawak legal adviser and former Sarawak attorney-general Fong Joo Chung, while the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department acted as the secretariat.

The special team comprised former Sabah state secretary Hashim Paijan and former Women, Family and Community Development Ministry secretary-general Junaidah Kamaruddin.

Other members of the team were former judge and former senior federal counsel Jagjit Singh Bant Singh, lawyers Shaharudin Ali and Balaguru Karupiah, as well as representatives from the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre and the Chief Government Security Office.

Thomas published his book, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, in 2021.

It drew a lot of criticism, including from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, lawyers, politicians and the public, with varying accusations of incitement, insult and slander.

Police subsequently received more than 100 reports about the book. – August 29, 2022.