Dr M dismisses Opposition’s calls to sack AG Tommy Thomas

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he does not believe in sacking people unless it’s proven they have made a very serious mistake.

He was commenting on calls by the Opposition to sack Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas following the Seremban Sessions Court’s decision to drop two terrorism-related charges against Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran over alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

“I’m not in the business of sacking people. Sometimes people make mistakes.

“Also, I’d like to sack some of the opposition members because they made a lot of mistakes, but you know we have the rule of law and we obey the rule of law. Unless something very serious happens, I don’t pecat (sack) people even though people are asking me to pecat this and pecat that,” Dr Mahathir said during a press conference at Perdana Putra, Putrajaya.

Earlier today, Opposition chief Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob urged Dr Mahathir to advise the Yang DiPertuan Agong to sack Thomas over alleged interference in the LTTE case and other court cases.

On November 1, Gunasekaran and several others were slapped with charges related to alleged links to LTTE in front of three different judges at separate courts.

Gunasekaran, 60, was charged with supporting LTTE through his social media account under the name of Dap Guna Palaisamy.

The charge under Section 131J (1)(a) of the Penal Code, carries an imprisonment for life, or for a jail term not exceeding 30 years, or with fine; and shall also be liable to forfeiture of any property used or intended to be used in connection with the offence, upon conviction.

On Tuesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed a habeas corpus application by Gunasekaran and four others to be released immediately from detention over their alleged links to the now defunct terrorist group.