‘JHO LOW VITAL TO NAJIB’S TRIAL’
Evidence lacks human context, says lead counsel
DATUK Seri Najib Razak’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho’s presence will be a crucial point in his client’s criminal trials.
He said the evidence the team had comprised only documents and lacked a human context.
“I hope he can turn up because then we can find out the truth.
“There are a lot of documents, in fact millions of documents, but we do not have human beings giving evidence to give meaning and context (to the documents),” he said at the Courts Complex here.
Shafee said he would “love to cross examine” Low during trial.
When asked about the book on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD), Billion Dollar Whale, Shafee claimed the author had confirmed that Low had misled Najib.
“I read the book three times… This book was written for a movie, and you cannot expect the truth from it,” he said, adding that there were hundreds of misleading information relating to his client spread in news reports.
He said this had led to hundreds of misleading statements made by the public regarding the cases faced by Najib.
“Therefore, I am here to be the equaliser, because the (misleading) information is not fair to my client.”
He took to task the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for trying to go behind his back by attempting to submit evidence relating to the trial directly to Najib.
“My client went to MACC headquarters yesterday (Wednesday) to visit his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, who was detained by the anti-graft body.
“Suddenly, an officer tried to hand over documents in compact disk format directly to him, which he declined.
“When we represent the accused (in a trial), we are the same (as the client). Why go behind our backs and give it directly to him?”
On charges faced by Rosmah, Shafee said the prosecution team would have a nightmare trying to win the case.
“The (case) will be problematic to the prosecution as they need to prove that the money received came from illegal means.”
Najib has been charged with several counts under the AntiMoney Laundering and Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
Rosmah has been slapped with 17 charges of money laundering involving more than RM7 million.