KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here today allowed an application by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah for the temporary release of his impounded passport to enable him to go to New York to help his son, who is pursuing higher studies there, settle in.
Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin granted the temporary release of the passport from today until December 3 after hearing submissions from Shafee’s lawyer, Wee Yeong Kang, as there was no objection from the deputy public prosecutor S. Nithia.
Earlier, Wee submitted that his client needed to go to New York from October 27 to November 30 to help his son settle in at the Parsons School of Design at The New School.
According to the notice of motion filed on October 18, Shafee made an application for his passport to be handed over to him temporarily at the latest on October 25, for him to make preparations to fly from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to New York on October 27.
Shafee said he would return the passport to the court by December 3.
Shafee, who is the lead defence counsel for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the SRC International Sdn Bhd and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) cases, has been allowed to travel abroad several times after he was charged.
The 69-year-old senior lawyer had handed over his passport in September 2018 after he was charged with receiving RM9.5 million in proceeds from unlawful activities through two cheques issued by Najib, which were deposited into his CIMB Bank Bhd account.
He was also charged with two counts of engaging in transactions resulting from illegal activities, namely submitting incorrect tax returns, which is in violation of Paragraph 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the financial years ending December 31, 2013, and December 31, 2014.
A total of six prosecution witnesses have testified in the case, which started on May 21 this year.
The trial is scheduled to continue tomorrow and Wednesday. – Bernama, October 25, 2021
