Najib warned not to post about his trial

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak was warned by the High Court not to make public postings relating to his corruption trial involving RM42mil in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali gave the order after fixing next Monday to hear full submissions on the prosecution’s application to have Najib apologise to the court following a posting on Najib’s Facebook page on the issue of his credit card expenditure amounting to more than RM3mil.

The court heard from Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that his client’s action was not sub judice, and asked for time to reply to the application.

“We have asked for a gag order to bar the media and the public from discussing the merits of the case but they (the prosecution) objected. Now they want an undertaking from my client for him not to post any statements, which is contradictory.

“I can tell you the main reason why my client did that. It is because the media did not fully report what had happened,” added Shafee.

Attorney General Tommy Thomas said the prosecution was not pursuing a contempt of court proceedings, but only wanted an apology from Najib on the grounds that the action was sub judice.

Earlier during the morning session, Thomas made an application to the court for Najib to apologise over his posting, which the latter uploaded on his Facebook at 9.30pm on July 15.

He said Najib uploaded the posting to explain the intention behind the expenses by mentioning that it was used to buy presents for foreign royalty.

“My Lord, his (Najib) action is sub judice and he must be treated the same as any other accused.

“He cannot be treated any differently just because he is a politician and was the former prime minister.

“The prosecution demands an unconditional apology from the accused and his word that he would not repeat it,” Thomas said.

Earlier this week, the court heard testimony from Ambank Group senior vice-president Yeoh Eng Leong, who said that two credit cards belonging to Najib racked up RM3.3mil in one day at a jewellery boutique, De Grisogono, in Italy on Aug 8, 2014.

In yesterday’s proceedings, the court also heard that a central figure to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, Low Taek Jho, was not a punctual person.

Former AmBank Group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang testified that he “detested” Low, also known as Jho Low.

The hearing continues on Monday.