PUTRAJAYA: The government will let the court decide whether the "Man on The Run" documentary will be removed from Netflix, says Fahmi Fadzil.
The government spokesman and Communications Minister said the ministry had sought advice from the Attorney General, the ministry’s legal adviser as well as legal experts in the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the matter.
"Their view is that since the matter has been raised in court, we cannot override the process, so we let the court decide," he said on Wednesday (Jan 24).
Fahmi pointed out that the documentary was approved by the Film Censorship Board and was shown in cinemas in October last year, adding no issues were raised back then.
Man On The Run spotlights the fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, and his dealings with the controversial 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
In the letter issued by Messrs Shafee and Co, Najib’s defence team contended that the statements by several individuals in the documentary, including former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, were in contempt of court as Najib’s 1MDB corruption trial was still ongoing at the High Court.
In the letter dated Jan 11, the team urged the government to have the documentary removed and restrain the platform from further screening it.
Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had said before High Court judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah during the 1MDB trial that they were seeking to remove the 98-minute show off the platform for what they called "subjudicial and contemptuous" content.
