Arul Kanda stands by his witness statement to the MACC, says lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy is standing by his statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should he be called to testify against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the 1MDB audit tampering trial.

His lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan told the High Court that Arul Kanda was ready to testify on the stand.

ALSO READ: Najib said I was not earning enough, says ex-1MDB adviser

Sivananthan was queried by Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on his client's stance to an application by the prosecution that sought to call Arul Kanda, who is a co-accused, to testify as a witness.

“My client has given his testimony to the MACC. His position has always been that he will stand by those statements.

"If that is what the prosecution is asking him to do, then he will do it,” Sivananthan said here on Tuesday (June 14).

ALSO READ: I received RM30,000 a month but did nothing for 1MDB, says Sidek Hassan

Justice Zaini then responded; "So in English, he says yes" much to the laughter of those present in court.

On May 20, the prosecution made an oral application before Justice Mohamed Zaini to call Arul Kanda as a witness under Section 63 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.

The Section stated that in a situation where two or more people are charged with an offence under this same law, the court may require one or more of them to give evidence as witnesses for the prosecution if a written application is made by the public prosecutor.

ALSO READ: Shafee tests positive for Covid-19, 1MDB audit trial postponed again

Earlier, the court heard submissions from lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram and Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah on the matter.

Muhammad Shafee said it was "oppressive" for the prosecution to have mentioned it in their opening statement at the beginning of the trial that Arul Kanda would called to testify when he was a co-accused himself.

"They let Arul sit there and listen to all the witnesses. If he was a normal witness, he would be sitting in a witness room," he said.

The lawyer also argued that the prosecution ought to have invoked Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code and withdrawn the charge against Arul Kanda first before calling him to the stand.

ALSO READ: Arul Kanda may testify against Najib

By invoking Section 63 of the MACC Act, Muhammad Shafee said it was a "subtle threat" on Arul Kanda for him to "behave" as the charge was still hanging over the former CEO's head.

"The ultimate question is, are we giving a fair trial to Najib in this context," he added.

Meanwhile, the prosecution argued that by invoking Section 63, Arul Kanda 's evidence on the stand would require corroboration for his testimony to remain credible.

"Those are the safety valves that would ensure a fair trial," he said.

Arul Kanda's defence team had indicated in an earlier proceeding that it would not be making a submission regarding the issue and would leave it to the court's discretion.

Justice Mohamed Zaini fixed June 24 to deliver his decision in the application.

Najib, 69, is accused of abusing his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report to avoid any action being taken against him while Arul Kanda, 46, is accused of abetting Najib in making the amendments.

Both men are charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.