Court gives Shafee more time to file application

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been given more time to file an application to set aside a leave that was granted for the commencement of committal proceedings against him.

High Court judge Justice Mohd Firuz Jaffril gave Muhammad Shafee an additional three weeks for the lawyer to file the application.

He also ordered Muhammad Shafee to appear before the court on May 23 for the hearing of the application.

The judge made the order after Muhammad Shafee’s lawyer David Thomas Matthews informed the court that his client was now overseas for a work-related matter and therefore was unable to appear in court yesterday.

“We need more time to file the application because my client is now in Sydney and I myself am on MC from March 15 until March 29,” Matthews said during case management here yesterday.

On March 1, Mohd Firuz allowed Attorney General Tommy Thomas’ application for leave to initiate a contempt of court proceedings against Muhammad Shafee over a media statement on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s cases.

Thomas, in his originating summons, said Muhammad Shafee, who is representing Najib in the cases, had made a statement that was deemed contemptuous to the judge and would undermine the administration of justice and public confidence in the judicial system.

He was alleged to have made the comments in response to questions from journalists that Najib’s defence team could win the trial “if the judge is straight, witnesses are not coached and evidence is not fabricated”.

The comment was made on Feb 7 after a court proceeding and aired on news portal KiniTV.