KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Lawyer Rosli Dahlan today withdrew his RM48 million lawsuit against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for wrongful arrest, after reaching a settlement with the federal agency.
In its statement read out at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today by MACC assistant commissioner Saiful Ezra Ariffin, the commission said that it “regretted” the events that had taken place leading up to the suit, and said it did not wish to “prolong” the matter.
“One of the defendants in this case, Kevin Anthony Morais, has been murdered,” MACC said.
Rosli initially sued MACC, its officers, and several media outlets over his 2007 arrest by MACC’s predecessor, the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA).
Utusan Malaysia, News Straits Times and The Star have since apologised to the lawyer for allegations contained in their respective articles published following Rosli’s arrest.
Rosli also dropped a separate suit he had filed against former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan over the incident.
In 2007, Rosli was arrested for allegedly failing to declare his assets, but was later acquitted of the charges.
Rosli said today that he felt “vindicated” by the settlement and said that MACC’s actions should be “commended”.
“I understand there are limitations as to what they can say but it takes moral courage to make such corrections,” he said.
