PETALING JAYA: PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli appears to have taken a swipe at former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for seeking postponements of his final SRC International appeal.
In a Facebook post Tuesday (Aug 23), Rafizi described himself as a “court veteran” who had been summoned over 14 cases but never tried to delay any of his court proceedings.
“(Some) are civil suits while the rest are criminal cases under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Banking Act, the Sedition Act, the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Penal Code for accusations of slander and others.
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“Yesterday (Monday, Aug 23), when I named Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad as one of (those involved) in the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, I immediately got a WhatsApp message from my lawyer.
“In a casual and joking way, he already knew there was a high possibility that my disclosure could cause me to be sued and he also knows that when I get sued, he and other lawyer friends have to... defend me for free because I have no money and cannot afford lawyers, (unlike) Najib.
“But they have never tired of my behaviour and we (have been) friends since 2011. As usual, we can joke again when we get to court.
“We don't take... oaths because we believe the evidence and facts are clear, we don't change lawyer after lawyer... we do not find any reason to delay the trial,” he said.
On Monday, Rafizi claimed that an internal investigation report had revealed the name of one Zainab Mohd Salleh, allegedly the second wife of a former deputy defence minister, was linked to two offshore companies that had siphoned funds from the LCS project.
“Even if we are sentenced to prison, we will be satisfied because we believe it is a test from God that will raise our standing," he added.
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On July 25, Najib discharged Messrs Shafee & Co and took on Messrs Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew & Partners (ZIST) to represent him in his final appeal at the Federal Court.
The defence applied for a postponement of the appeal hearing but was turned down. Najib subsequently discharged ZIST on Friday (Aug 19).
On Tuesday, his lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik submitted an application to recuse Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and informed the apex court he had appointed Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to assist him.
Shafee then asked the court for an adjournment as he was unprepared. However, the CJ rejected the application and ordered Hisyam to proceed with his case.
