Malaysia's seizure of Equanimity is illegal, claims Jho Low's lawyer

Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho is the CEO of Hong Kong-based private equity investment and advisory firm Jynwel Capital.

PETALING JAYA: The seizure of the US$250mil (RM1bil) superyacht Equanimity by Malaysian authorities is against court rulings in Indonesia and the United States, says a lawyer acting on behalf of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low. 

"The action of the Mahathir government in illegitimately taking this asset shows just how quickly the rule of law disappears in Mahathir’s regime. 

"It is a violation of an Indonesian law and court decision by a politically motivated Malaysian government bent on advancing its own political agenda with little regard to existing court rulings or basic legal rights," Low's lawyer James F. Haggerty said in a statement on Sunday (Aug 5). 

Haggerty claimed the seizure of Equanimity was illegal, adding that Dr Mahathir was showing the world that the government had "no interest in the rule of law", which he said was similar to the 1988 judicial crisis.

The 1988 judicial crisis was sparked during Dr Mahathir's first tenure as prime minister when he tabled a Bill in Parliament to amend Articles 121 and 145 of the Federal Constitution.