Abdul Gani Patail

This is a Malay name; the name Patail is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Abdul Gani.
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima
Abdul Gani Patail
Attorney General of Malaysia
In office
1 January 2002 – 27 July 2015
Preceded by Ainum Mohd Saaid
Succeeded by Mohamed Apandi Ali
Personal details
Born (1955-10-06) 6 October 1955
Lahad Datu, North Borneo
Spouse(s) Maimun Datuk Haji Arif
Alma mater University of Malaya
Profession Prosecutor

Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Gani bin Patail (born 6 October 1955) is a Malaysian prosecutor. He was the Attorney General of Malaysia from 2002 to 2015, the first from Sabah to hold the position.[1]

Abdul Gani was the lead prosecutor in former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial of 1998.[2]

Background

Abdul Gani Patail graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the University of Malaya in 1979. He began his legal career the following year as a Deputy Public Prosecutor (the title for a prosecuting officer in Malaysia) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In 1985, he was promoted to Senior Federal Counsel for Sabah.[3]

In January 1994, Abdul Gani moved to the Attorney General's Chambers in Kuala Lumpur. There he was appointed Head of the Prosecution Division (1994 and again in 2000), Head of the Advisory and International Division (1995) and Commissioner of Law Revision (1997).[3]

On 1 January 2002, he was appointed Attorney General of Malaysia.[3]

Abdul Gani's tenure as Attorney General ended in 2015 when the Chief Secretary to the Government announced he had stepped down due to health reasons. The announcement was abrupt, and Patail himself was apparently unaware of the decision to have him removed from his post. [4]Prior to this, he was head of a multi-agency taskforce investigating claims of misappropriation of funds allegedly involving prime minister Najib Razak.[5]

Anwar sodomy trial

It was during his time as Commissioner of Law Revision that Abdul Gani was chosen to lead the prosecution against Anwar Ibrahim during Anwar's corruption and sodomy trial of 1998. Anwar was sentenced to a combined 15 years in prison for corruption and sodomy in April 1999 and August 2000 respectively. The sodomy conviction was overturned in 2004 by the Federal Court.[6]

Anwar has personally accused Abdul Gani and then Assistant Commissioner of Police Musa Hassan of fabricating evidence against him during the trial, in particular introducing the medical report that suggested Anwar's black-eye sustained from beatings in prison were self-inflicted.[7] His claims have been backed by former police officer Mat Zain Ibrahim who investigated the 'black eye' incident.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Gani Patail, first local to hold post of AG | Sayang Sabah". Retrieved 2015-10-03.
  2. ↑ "Sodomy II prosecutor honoured with Federal award". The Malaysian Insider. 5 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 Attorney General's Profile Attorney General's Chambers. Accessed 13 June 2010
  4. ↑ http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/gani-says-in-the-dark-over-sudden-termination
  5. ↑ "Gani Patail no longer Attorney-General, chief secretary says". Malay Mail Online. 28 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Colvin, Mark (2 September 2004). "Anwar Ibrahim freed after sodomy sentence overturned". abc.net.au. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  7. ↑ Lau, Leslie (29 May 2009). "Ex-cop implicates Abdul Gani, Musa in Anwar black-eye case". The Malaysian Insider. (mirror)
  8. ↑ Beh, Lih Yi (10 October 2008). "Ex-cop: How AG interfered in 'black eye' case". Malaysiakini.
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