Shafee: AG deliberately omitting info in contempt case

Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has accused Attorney-General Tommy Thomas of intentionally concealing important information in the contempt proceedings brought against him.

The proceedings are over Shafee’s comments during a media interview in February, which was captured in a KiniTV video entitled “Shafee: This is completely bonkers.”

Today, Shafee’s lead counsel David Matthews contended that the plaintiffs, in their submissions, omitted the question posed to his client before the comments were made.

This, he argued, deprived the words of context, and further subjected it to a "skewed interpretation" by the plaintiffs.

"By not putting in the question, it has allowed them (the plaintiffs) to preference their interpretation of the statement," Matthews told Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril.

On Feb 7, Shafee addressed the media after his client, former premier Najib Abdul Razak, was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for three 1MDB-related money-laundering charges.

Asked about his chances of success in the 1MDB trial, Shafee answered that he was confident, but if only the judge is "straight" and "not influenced," witnesses not "coached" and evidence not "fabricated."

Thomas was subsequently granted leave to cite Shafee for contempt, which the lawyer is now trying to set aside.

'Off the cuff' comments

Today, Matthews argued that Shafee’s comments had not been directed at the judiciary, but instead the prosecution of the 1MDB case.

When Firuz questioned what Shafee meant in his comments about "the judge," Matthews contended that they had been made in an "off the cuff" manner and out of "frustration" at the conduct of the prosecution in the 1MDB trial – led by Thomas.

"We can’t isolate the words and interpret them in a vacuum," he said.

"This was a man (Shafee) who was frustrated, and had hardly slept, and was having to face all these things. And then he was asked by reporters 'What are your chances'.

"If I may even speculate, this (contempt) application was brought about because they (the prosecution) were unhappy about the comments made against them," he said.

Aside from omitting the question, Matthews also argued that the attorney-general, in his submissions, deliberately concealed two instances where Shafee expressed his confidence in the integrity of the judge presiding over the 1MDB trial – once in a letter to the chief justice, and another in open court.

Thomas was represented by senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan today.

The hearing will resume on May 27. - Mkini