d hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram submitted that the contents of the tape and transcript would rebut the defence that Najib Razak received a donation.KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial at the High Court has sought to admit an audio recording to rebut the former prime minister’s defence that the monies which went into his personal bank accounts were donations.
Ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram submitted that the audio recording of an alleged conversation between Najib and a leader from the Middle East was highly relevant to refute the accused’s defence.
“We say that the contents of the tape and transcript will go to some extent, if not the whole length, to rebut the defence that the accused received a donation and that he thought he was dealing with monies that were donated to him.
“I have to meet that defence and I have to rebut that defence, for that purpose this evidence is highly relevant,” he said.
Yesterday, Sri Ram played an audio clip in court, with the 42nd prosecution witness, former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah, identifying one of the voices as sounding like Najib’s.
The voice, which sounded like Najib’s, had addressed the other individual as “Your Highness” and spoke about the need to resolve an impasse regarding 1MDB and International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) which was said to be embarrassing to both Malaysia and the UAE.
Sri Ram said that the recording should be admissible under Section 41(A) of the MACC Act and that it was a “special provision” which took precedence over Section 65 of the Evidence Act that dealt with documentary evidence.
“For that purpose, we also submit that a tape recording, a recording of this nature, is a document. My Lord, even if the audio was obtained irregularly or illegally, it will still be admissible,” said the prosecutor.
Section 41(A) of the MACC Act states that where any document or a copy of any document is obtained by the MACC under this Act, such document shall be admissible in any proceedings under the Act, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law.
Najib’s lead counsel Shafee Abdullah, however, objected to the audio recording and the transcript being admitted as evidence in the trial, suggesting that it was an “illegal recording” and not to be used in court.
He also said that the conversation was between two heads of states.
Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over the alleged misuse of 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The trial before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow with The Edge Media Group chairman Tong Kooi Ong expected to take the stand. - Mkini
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