SHAFEE: IT’S MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Judge accepts explanation over Najib’s MC and Tanjung Piai campaign rounds
DATUK Seri Najib Razak escaped being sanctioned for allegedly abusing his medical chit (MC) by campaigning in the Tanjung Piai by-election a day after skipping trial.
High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said he found no reason to take action.
However, he warned that the court would not tolerate any attempt to mislead it.
“If the need arises, I will not hesitate to file contempt proceedings,” he said after hearing a lengthy explanation from Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, over events surrounding Najib’s presence in Tanjung Piai for the by-election campaign after he skipped court proceedings one day earlier by producing an MC.
It was reported that Najib had missed court hearing on Thursday due to swollen eyes from an allergic reaction.
Shafee had said his client’s eyes were so swollen that the latter could not cover them even by wearing dark glasses. This caused the trial to be postponed.
Najib, 66, is charged with misappropriating RM2.28 billion of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s funds, money laundering and abuse of power.
At the onset of the hearing yesterday, lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said he had been instructed by the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers to raise the issue of Najib’s presence in Tanjung Piai.
“He miraculously recovered one day after not being able to attend court. This is not the first time. Previously, he attended an Umno-Pas gathering at the Putra World Trade Centre after missing court.”
Sri Ram said there had been a public outcry and the A-G had received complaints about Najib’s behaviour, adding that there was a report lodged over the incident.
He asked the court to order Najib to report to the nearest police station once every Saturday, arguing that the accused should be treated like any other person facing charges.
“We have given a lot of leeway and it is obvious that he is abusing it. The A-G has instructed an official complaint to be lodged against the doctor who issued the MC. The A-G said the accused was mocking the MC by carrying out political activities… it is a matter that should be met with proper judicial response.”
However, Shafee rebutted Gopal Sri Ram’s argument by saying that he was disappointed with the A-G’s instruction to the prosecution.
He said it was obvious that the A-G had dished out the directive without finding out the truth or “doing his homework”.
“He is sitting comfortably in Tokyo watching the Rugby World Cup Finals without knowing what is actually going on here.
“The doctor who gave the MC complied with the medical act… my client was not fit to attend court and he got the MC. Moreover, there was no reason for him to skip just 1½ hours allocated last Thursday,”
Shafee said Najib had gone to Tanjung Piai only on Friday and he was still suffering from swollen eyes.
He said this was widely reported in the media and there was a video recording to back his claim.
On the police report, he said it was done by an “anti-Najib person” who had failed to do his homework.
Naming the person as Datuk Mohd Faisal Karim, 41, Shafee said he should be brave enough to come to court and voice out his disgruntlement.
“He is obviously hiding behind someone’s skirt,” he said, adding that Najib was scheduled to go for a full blood test to find out the cause of his allergy.
“The move to sanction Najib is totally uncalled for and this whole thing is much ado over nothing.
“My client is not one of those characters who will cook up excuses just to skip trial.”
Later, continuing with his cross-examination of former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Shafee questioned the ninth prosecution witness on funds which were supposed to have been used for the development of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Bandar Malaysia.
Shahrol said most of the money had gone to PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI).
He said the plan was for PSI to raise RM5 billion and RM10 billion through bridging loan facilities for the TRX (which was then known as the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District — KLIFD), and Bandar Malaysia where the old Sungai Besi Airport was located.
However, he said 1MDB only managed to raise RM1 billion for the KLIFD project. The money for the redevelopment of the airport land was never raised, he said.
The trial continues.