LETTER | This is a masterclass in institutional theatre. I lodged a police report in 2022 alleging abuse of power by former attorney-general Apandi Ali over his handling of 1MDB, backed by a High Court judgment that explicitly questioned the truthfulness of Apandi’s claims.

Judge Azimah Omar recorded that the so-called Saudi “donor” was never met, never spoken to, never verified, despite Apandi publicly insisting otherwise in 2016.

And now, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak himself performs a political somersault worthy of the Olympics and admits the RM42 million didn’t come from the Saudi government. This is a confession by timeline. The story collapses. The lie is exposed. The architecture of deception becomes visible.

And yet, the investigation into Apandi? Neatly stamped no further action (NFA). Case closed. File shelved. Memory erased. Not because the evidence disappeared but because accountability did.

This is procedural choreography. Everyone knows the steps: delay, deflect, classify, silence. To those of you questioning if the system failed, here’s my response: it performed exactly as designed. The lie wasn’t corrected; it was protected.

Meanwhile, in another Malaysia, the real one, a father of four was fined RM1,500 for stealing milk, shampoo, and detergent worth RM131.50.

In early January this year, a 29-year-old father of two was jailed for one month for stealing groceries worth RM113.70. My friends, that’s not law enforcement, but moral comedy.

Steal millions, destabilise institutions, mislead the nation: NFA. Steal milk for your children: criminal. Apparently, the real crime in this country is poverty, not power. Hunger is prosecuted faster than corruption. Desperation gets handcuffs; deception gets immunity.

The contrast is grotesque. One group weaponises state institutions and walks free. Another steals survival items and gets punished publicly and permanently.

The law here doesn’t protect society; it protects hierarchy. It doesn’t target harm; it targets the powerless. It doesn’t pursue truth; it manages perception. The message is simple: theft of groceries is dangerous, but theft of democracy is administratively inconvenient.

Cover-ups require aligned silences. When police classify politically explosive cases as NFA despite judicial findings, parliamentary questions, and public contradictions, that’s protection. That’s containment. That’s the system insulating itself from its own crimes. This isn’t about Apandi alone but about how institutions close ranks when truth threatens legitimacy.

So yes, the investigations into Apandi must be reopened. Not as a symbolic gesture, but as a legal necessity. Because if the law can chase a man for stealing milk but cannot touch a former AG accused of misleading the nation over the largest financial scandal in Malaysian history, then we are no longer talking about the rule of law.

We’re talking about selective morality with a badge. And that, frankly, is the darkest joke of all.

CHARLES SANTIAGO is former Klang MP.

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