NO GAG ORDER FOR NAJIB CASES
Laws can deal with risk of prejudice or interference with justice system, says judge
THE High Court yesterday dismissed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application for a gag order on the media against discussing the merits of his criminal cases.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali meted out the judgment after hearing submissions by the applicant led by counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria.
Nazlan, in his judgment, said laws on contempt and defamation provided measures to deal with any such substantial risk of prejudice or interference with the criminal justice system.
He said the applicant had fallen short of establishing its case.
“Thus, I dismiss this notice of motion.”
On July 4, then presiding High Court judge Mohd Sofian Abd Razak allowed Najib’s application for an interim gag order.
Earlier, Shafee, who represented Najib, submitted that the media furore surrounding his client’s alleged criminal wrongdoings and the resulting public backlash had presupposed his client’s guilt.
“It is not a dramatic observation to say that the public sentiment against the applicant is prejudiced to such an extent that nothing short of a conviction upon all charges would qualify as justice in the eyes of the public,” he said.
Shafee claimed that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, and Damansara member of parliament Tony Pua had commented on the case and appeared to “support the public’s call for blood”.
“The gag order would prevent those statements being given the ‘oxygen’ of publicity… You must cut that oxygen,” Shafee said.
However, Hanafiah, in his submission, said the notice of motion would bar the people from even uttering a hint of the case.
He said it was not made clear if this would affect only mass media and social media, adding that the only possible deduction was that it was meant to cover all media.
“Hence, taken as a whole, from the breakdown of the notice of motion, it could be seen that the order sought is extremely wide.
“It can be inferred that the applicant is seeking the world at large to be restrained from publishing in the media any reports or comments that would imply his (Najib) guilt.”
Najib, earlier, spent almost seven hours in the dock during the proceedings, which were by far the longest time he sat in the dock after being charged recently.
The High Court fixed 33 days for Najib’s criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and moneylaundering charges.
Nazlan said the trial would be from Feb 12 to Feb 28 and March 4 to March 29. The court fixed Oct 4 for case management.
Earlier, Hanafiah told the court that the prosecution was ready to start the trial in November.
Shafee objected, saying he needed more time to study the 3,500 pages of documents that he received only on Wednesday.
Najib claimed trial to three counts of criminal breach of trust and a charge of abuse of power involving RM42 million linked to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. He also claimed trial at the High Court on Wednesday to receiving more than RM40 million from illegal proceeds linked to SRC International.
He was alleged to have received RM42 million in total at an AmIslamic Bank branch via electronic funds transfer in Jalan Raja Chulan here between Dec 26, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015.
The offence falls under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.
Najib faces a maximum 15 years’ jail and a fine of no less than five times the amount of proceeds involved, or RM5 million, whichever is higher, if convicted.