#BebasAnwar plans forums on RM9.5m payment to Shafee

Roadshow to discuss alleged 'prosecutorial misconduct' as a follow-up to Sarawak Report exposé.

PETALING JAYA: NGO #BebasAnwar will hold forums in different states, starting next week, to highlight and analyse the latest exposé by whistleblower portal Sarawak Report that RM9.5 million was paid to prominent lawyer Shafee Abdullah from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s private bank account.

The youth-driven NGO said in a statement today that despite dozens of police reports being lodged and calls made to agencies such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Inland Revenue Board to investigate the allegation, no one had responded.

“To date, no statements have been made by the Umno lawyer to deny the allegations.

“What is more surprising is that Umno minister Nazri Aziz and former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan are the ones more eager to defend Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak,” said forum campaign chairman Adrian Lim.

Sarawak Report made the allegation against Shafee in a report on May 31.

Shafee was appointed by the government as chief prosecutor in the Sodomy 2 trial of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim in the higher courts.

The report claimed Shafee was paid RM4.3 million in September 2013 and RM5.2 million in February 2014.

On March 7, 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s acquittal of Anwar and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Lim said the NGO would not wait quietly for investigations by “Umno-controlled governmental agencies”.

“Instead, we will bring this topic and issue to the people through a series of people’s forums,” he said.

The first forum will kick off at 8.30pm on June 13 in Petaling Jaya to discuss the “legal standing of a prosecutorial misconduct, the impact of the United Nations’ statement in support of Anwar and other issues surrounding the flawed trial”.

Forums are also being planned for Penang, Pahang, Melaka and Johor over the next two to three weeks. -FMT