SUPERYACHT SEIZURE ILLEGAL, SAYS LAWYER
It is against Indonesian, US court rulings, says Jho Low’s lawyer
THE decision to seize Low Taek Jho’s US$250 million (RM1 billion) superyacht is illegal and shows there is no rule of law under the new government.
His lawyer, James F. Haggerty, said this yesterday in a statement issued to Free Malaysia Today.
He said the order to seize The Equanimity was against the Indonesian and United States court rulings.
“The Malaysian government has violated an Indonesian law and court decision for its political agenda,” he said.
“The government’s act of illegitimately taking the asset shows how quickly the rule of law has disappeared under Dr Mahathir’s administration.”
The Equanimity was seized by the Indonesian authorities following a US order in February.
It was reported that the superyacht left Bali, Indonesia, on Aug 2, and was expected to reach Batam tomorrow before it is handed over to Malaysian authorities.
It was also rumoured that the decision to surrender the superyacht to Malaysia was made in June following a request by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during a visit to Indonesia.
Haggerty said the US Department of Justice had argued that it was critical that it had possession of assets to ensure that they retained their value until a fair court hearing determined their final ownership and rights.
He said the seizure of The Equanimity was illegal and above court ruling.
“It shows Dr Mahathir’s government is not serious about following the rule of law, similar to what he had done in 1988 during his first tenure as prime minister, wanting to amend Articles 121 and 145 of the Federal Constitution.
“This sparked the 1988 judicial crisis and led to the suspension of the then lord president Tun Salleh Abas for defending the judiciary’s autonomy,” he said, adding that Dr Mahathir later shifted the blame to the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Haggerty claimed that actions such as these made a fair hearing in Malaysia doubtful.