KUALA LUMPUR – The prosecution in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case has urged the high court to impose a strict warning on the former prime minister for attacking former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, who is a witness in the case, on Facebook.
Senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram brought the matter up before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, following an online comment by Najib, posted on December 29 regarding Zeti, who allegedly received money from 1MDB.
Najib, in his Facebook post, urged Zeti, who is listed as a prosecution witness, to respond to a blog post claiming her family had received money from fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, which included 1MDB funds.
“I don’t want to move an application to take his bail or contempt, but I will be grateful if the court would impose a strict warning against the accused to not do this again.
“A trial has to take place in a court of law, not in the public domain, certainly not on social media. We want assurance that our witness will not be attacked,” said Sri Ram.
Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, countered that Najib, being restrained from sharing his thoughts on the issue, was similar to "a boxer being sent to the ring with both hands tied, can take punches but not be able to reply back”.
Shafee said that he previously tried to apply for a gag order for the Pekan MP to stop the media and any person from discussing the merits of the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial, but the application was dismissed.
“Everybody else can say everything about my client. They call him a crook, a 'perompak', and nobody took action. The previous attorney-general or the current attorney-general; they both did nothing,” said the lawyer.
Shafee then asked the judge if he could reserve the matter as he will submit on it further this coming Thursday, to which the judge agreed.
Earlier, Shafee had applied for Najib to be excused from attending tomorrow’s trial as he needed to perform his obligation to visit his Pekan constituency, which is severely affected by floods.
“I have asked him whether he went there last week and he said no as there were no floods then, but the situation in the last two days, as can be seen in the media, is much worse and he would like to be there to meet his constituents. Otherwise, there will be words and questions of his non-presence," said Shafee.
Justice Sequerah denied the request and the trial will continue as planned tomorrow.
Najib, 67, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. – Bernama, January 5, 2021
