Put it to rest, defence, prosecution told over media statements on 1MDB trial
Published on: Wednesday, October 05, 2022
By: FMT
Judge Colin Lawrence Sequerah told parties to move on after lawyer Shafee Abdullah (pic) apologised for issuing a media statement related to the case.
Kuala Lumpur: The High Court judge in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial has told prosecution and defence lawyers bickering over media statements released by the defence team in the ongoing case to “put matters to rest”.
“This should be the end of the matter,” High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said after Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah apologised profusely over a media statement the defence released on Monday.
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Shafee explained that the statement was made after several journalists asked him about transactions in Najib’s account back in 2011.
He insisted its contents were accurate, adding that the defence was only showing five other transactions which took place and four letters which they claim were issued by one Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said the proper course was for the defence team to raise their complaints before Sequerah.
It was wrong for the defence to air their grievances in public, he added.
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“Does he (Shafee) expect me to go to the media (to explain the case) and then have the trial taken out from the court? We fight in court if there is anything,” he added.
Shafee responded by telling the court that the defence will refrain from making comments to the media about the prosecution’s conduct.
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On Oct 3, the prosecution told the judge that Najib and his legal team were making comments to the media about the ongoing case.
This followed the release by Najib’s lawyers of a media statement the previous day which touched on issues the court was hearing.
Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing continues with former AmBank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang testifying.
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