Why remove Jho Low from Interpol Red Notice, Shafee asks

 

Senior lawyer Shafee Abdullah, who represents former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, questioned the government over its efforts to bring back fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) to face the music over his involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

This comes after he claimed that there appears to have been no effective enforcement action taken to secure Low’s return, and that the wanted man is no longer subject to an active Interpol Red notice.

He further questioned the authorities on whether there had been clandestine arrangements with Low.

“Is this country doing a dirty deal with Low, or worse still, doing a corrupt deal with Low? Some kind of deal that we are not even bringing him in?

“No attempt, despite the previous two IGPs (having claimed attempts to bring him back).

“Now, you consider, Low’s red notice alert by Interpol has been cancelled. Why?” he asked at a press conference today.

Shafee Abdullah

He added that there was no reason for Low’s absence in the Interpol list, and that he “knew” the fugitive financier was negotiating for his freedom from criminal charges.

Malaysiakini’s checks on the Interpol website today showed there were only four Malaysians listed on the Interpol Red Notice: Sirul Azhar Umar - a former police officer linked to Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder, Koh Ing Kueh, Tan Lok Seng, and Loo Soon Aik.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had in 2018 issued an arrest warrant for Low and his father, Low Hock Peng, to be repatriated and face money-laundering charges in relation to 1MDB. Low’s name was not listed in the Interpol Red Notice alert at that time.

The then inspector-general of police (IGP), Fuzi Harun, claimed that the absence of Low’s name from the list was due to Interpol’s own protocol in deciding whether to make the names on its wanted list public.

In December last year, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Interpol is still reviewing  MACC’s Red Notice application against Low, which was submitted in August 2023. 

Meanwhile, IGP Khalid Ismail said in October this year that the police are still actively tracing Low.

‘No fair trial for Najib’

At the same press conference today, Shafee claimed that Najib did not receive a fair trial in his 1MDB case, which will be decided on Dec 26.

He was responding to the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) statement dated Dec 12, in which it claimed to have uncovered “new information” following the repatriation of Roger Ng two years ago.

Roger Ng

Shafee reiterated that Ng had previously testified as Najib’s 25th defence witness in the 1MDB case, in which he declined to answer several material questions.

This refusal, Shafee added, was made on the basis that Ng was bound by a protective order issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, despite the High Court saying that Malaysian courts are not bound by US court orders.

Shafee further claimed that the evidence which fell under the protective order could have cleared the former prime minister.

“Ethically, morally, and legally, he should disclose this (evidence) because what we have will show that Najib’s defence is believable, consistent with the document.

“So you tell me, whether blocking this evidence is consistent with a fair trial principle under Article 5 together with Article 8 (of the Federal Constitution).

“Surely, what the government announced (on Dec 12) that they now have further evidence must include this (evidence) because they say Ng is very cooperative in giving information that they never had before.

“We are now left with the situation where Ng refuses to allow us to get the information (during trial) but he spills the beans, surely, to the investigators… (And) our trial has closed. So I ask you, whether that is a fair trial,” he said.

Najib, 72, is serving his sentence in Kajang Prison after being convicted in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case. - Mkini