Anwar's lawyers: 'RM9.5m for Shafee' claim unrebutted with evidence

The allegation that RM9.5 million was deposited by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak into senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's account for acting as prosecutor in Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II appeal between 2013 and 2014 was never rebutted.

This was disclosed to judge Azizah Nawawi in chambers in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today by Anwar's lawyers, based on affidavits filed by the government, Najib and Shafee.

The government, which is named as the respondent in the originating summons, applied to strike out the suit, the application for which was heard in chambers today.

Earlier, Anwar's lawyers, led by former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram, along with N Surendran and Latheefa Koya, applied for the proceedings to be held in open court, under Section 15 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (CJA).

However, Justice Azizah dismissed the application without hearing any submission from senior federal counsel Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud, who appeared for the government.

In the submission by Anwar's lawyers today, they told the court that their client's right to a fair trial under Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution had been violated, and that he is entitled to access to justice at all levels of the appeal process.

“Justice is the product of a fair trial and arriving at a just decision. Anwar is entitled to have an independent prosecutor who has no personal interests but to see the interests of the state.

“This allegation is unrebutted with evidence that the prosecution (Shafee, on right in photo) was paid RM9.5 million in the transaction by a material witness, namely Najib,” Anwar's lawyers added in their submission.

The prosecution, which has financial interest in the proceedings, should not be allowed to conduct the proceedings (in the Court of Appeal and Federal Court) and the counsel in question (Shafee) should have made this disclosure (of the RM9.5 million) when efforts were made by Anwar to disqualify the senior lawyer, they argued.

“Since this was not done (as there was no disclosure), it amounts to a violation of Anwar's rights under Article 5(1) for his access to a just trial,” the former opposition leader's lawyers added.

Prosecution: It is a multiplicity proceeding

They also told the judge that Anwar was not specifically applying to set aside his conviction, but pointing to the fact that he has the right to a fair trial.

The prosecution, led by Awang Armadajaya, told the court that what Anwar was applying for was to re-open his criminal conviction and set aside the conviction.

The government’s lawyers told the court that the application amounted to multiplicity, as there was another application made by Anwar to set aside his conviction on fabrication and fraud evidence, which was filed before Anwar filed the current application in April.

“You cannot have many suits challenging the same issue,” Awang Armadajaya said.

The government’s prosecutors further told the court that this was a plain and obvious case to strike out, but Anwar's lawyers countered that there are serious issues and that the matter should go to trial.

Besides Awang Armadajaya, DPP Kwan Li Sa and K Mangai also appeared for the prosecution. Nur Emilia Mohd Izam appeared for Najib, and Shafee was also present in court.

Justice Azizah then fixed Oct 24 to deliver her decision on the matter.

Besides the government's application to strike out Anwar’s application, Najib and Shafee's lawyers are also seeking to strike out a discovery application filed by Anwar to get the court to compel the two to reveal financial statements, purportedly on the transfer of RM9.5 million in two tranches of payment.

Meanwhile, Shafee, when questioned by reporters, said he could not make any statement on the allegation as the matter is in court.- Mkini