THE appointment of Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh as attorney-general effective September 6, is the perfect choice, Law and Institutional Reform Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said.

Azalina said the choice was the right one because of Terrirudin’s position as the solicitor-general and number two after the attorney-general.

He then assumed the position of the Federal Court chief registrar on May 3, 2019.

“He is a professional and I am confident his appointment is the perfect choice. This is also an internal appointment within the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which comprises experts in the legal field, and represent the country’s legal sector,” she told reporters after a meeting with the district voting centres at Kempas in Taman Dahlia, Johor Baru last night.

Azalina also hopes Terrirudin will continue the good work carried out by former attorney-general Idrus Harun and the AGC in general.

The Pengerang MP said this when commenting on the appointment of Terrirudin.

A law graduate from Universiti Malaya, Terrirudin, 55, joined the judicial and legal service in 1995 where he served in several postings such as senior assistant registrar of the High Court of Malaya, magistrate in Sibu, Sessions Court judge in Kuala Lumpur, and special officer to the chief justice of the Federal Court.

Commenting on claims by Umno Youth that the internal memo documents of AGC was leaked, Azalina said the matter would be handled by the related agency.

“If they (Umno Youth) want to lodge a police report or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), let the relevant agency investigate. It is up to the agency agency to investigate,” she said.

Earlier, Umno Youth chief Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh was quoted as urging Terrirudin to confirm whether there was a leak of the internal memo as claimed by social media reports.

Akmal added that if there was a leak, Umno Youth would lodge a report to MACC in the near future as well as urge members to lodge a police report.

There was also the issue of a leaked memorandum relating to the grounds of the AGC’s decision on former prime minister Najib Razak’s final appeal against his conviction in the SRC International corruption case.

The alleged 12-page memo, which was circulated online, stated that an evaluation found the available evidence in the case involving Najib and former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah to be “grossly insufficient” to prove a prima facie case for the six charges.

The memo was purportedly sent by the lead prosecutor in the case, Jamil Aripin, to Tommy Thomas, who was the attorney-general at the time. – Bernama, September 3, 2023.