No sanctions but watch out, judge warns Najib after Johor trip on MC

Former prime minister Najib Razak.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today declined to impose sanctions on former prime minister Najib Razak for making an appearance on nomination day for the Tanjung Piai by-election after obtaining a one-day MC last week.

After listening to both the prosecution and defence, judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said there was no reason to impose sanctions on Najib this time around.

However, he said he would not tolerate any attempts to mock the court.

“The court does not tolerate such an act and will not hesitate to punish for contempt,” he said.

Najib had called in sick on Oct 31, forcing an adjournment of his corruption trial until today.

His lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah showed the court pictures of Najib’s eyes which were swollen from an allergic reaction.

However, it was reported the following day that Najib was in Johor for the Tanjung Piai nomination day.

Ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said today that sanctions should be imposed on Najib, adding that the prosecution has instructions from Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas for Najib’s movements to be restricted to the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur, and for Najib to report to the police station nearest his home every Saturday.

He said the AG felt it was “miraculous” for Najib’s eye problem to disappear, allowing the former prime minister to go to Johor.

He added that there had been a public outcry, saying the public prosecutor had received a number of complaints with a police report lodged over the issue as well.

“We submit that the accused was abusing his MC to obtain an adjournment and prolong the trial,” he said, calling for sanctions on such contempt for court proceedings.

However, Shafee said Thomas had not done his homework but merely issued the directive to the prosecution from overseas.

Shafee said Najib was able to go to Johor as the swelling in his eyes had gone down although the irritation remained.

He also challenged the person who had made the report to appear before the court to lodge the complaint.

“He is obviously hiding behind someone’s skirts, and made an erroneous complaint and is trying to prejudice my client,” Shafee said.

Najib’s trial was also adjourned on Sept 11 after Najib contracted conjunctivitis.

The former prime minister faces 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power charges over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion. - FMT