Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, star defence lawyer for a number of 1MDB criminal cases, today questioned the volume of criticism thrown against the settlement deal which saw Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz being granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for money-laundering.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, he compared the response to the case of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who was acquitted by then attorney-general Tommy Thomas on charges of corruption linked to the purchase of a bungalow at allegedly below market-value.
"My response is very easy. The entire thing that is so-called in his hands, assets, money and whatever, is returned. He's saying I'm not guilty, I return these because I want my life back.
"Because if you remember, he (Riza) got these through loans, and he made profits, and now he returns it.
"But you compare this with Lim Guan Eng, he benefited from that purchase of property. Defence was called, not that his defence wasn't called.
[Editor's note: For the record, Lim was granted a full acquittal midway through the prosecution stage.]
"The deputy public prosecutors were not happy with the withdrawal, the only person who agreed to the withdrawal was Tommy Thomas. Why aren't you questioning that?" said Shafee, who represents Riza's stepfather Najib Abdul Razak in the latter's ongoing 1MDB-related trials.
The High Court in Penang had on Sept 3, 2018, freed Lim, the former Penang chief minister and former finance minister of two charges after the Attorney-General's Chambers accepted a representation from his lawyers.
For the record, Thomas was appointed as the AG by the Pakatan Harapan government in July 2018, two months after the coalition won the 14th general election on May 9.
Lim was the finance minister when Harapan was in power.
Shafee also lambasted several members of the Bar Council whom he claimed had failed to question the Harapan government when Lim's case was dropped by the Attorney-General's Chambers.
"Why aren't people in the Bar, I'm not talking about Bar Council, but senior people at the Bar. Why aren't you questioning those people in politics? Why did you (the then government) let go Lim Guan Eng when the defence has been called?"
While he did not name anyone, it is believed that Shafee was referring to a group of lawyers including five former presidents of the Malaysian Bar who issued a statement today criticising the current Malaysian Bar president Salim Bashir's statement on Riza's case.
The group said that Salim's statement was "uncharacteristic" of the Bar's fearless independence.
Shafee claimed that when Umno was in power, the country had seen a prominent member of the party, Mohd Khir Toyo, the former Selangor menteri besar, being sent to prison for corruption.
But the contrary had happened in Lim's case, according to him.
"When the opposition took over government, Lim Guan Eng was released. Why don't you question that?" he said.
Asked on whether Thomas' decision in Lim's case could be reversed, Shafee said the case can be reviewed if it could be proven that the decision was not made in good faith.
However, he said this will be up to the new attorney-general, Idrus Harun, to decide. - Mkini
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