Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s review of his SRC International case at the Federal Court has been relegated as a secondary issue with the sideshow of two senior lawyers sparring - in the courthouse and outside - threatening to overwhelm Malaysians’ interest.
During yesterday’s apex court hearing of Najib’s review application to quash his guilty verdict as well as a 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine, lead defence counsel Muhammed Shafee Abdullah denied there was a conspiracy between him and the former prime minister’s previous lawyers from law firm Zaid Ibrahim Sufian TH Liew & Partners to delay the final appeal in the SRC case before the Federal Court last year.
He had this to say about Najib’s previous lawyers: “There was a very acrimonious exchange of letters (between Shafee and the other law firm) on the manner in which my client (Najib) was not told the truth.
“Zaid & Co (the other law firm) never did criminal law (proceedings) in their entire life, a very complicated case like this,” Shafee (above) orally submitted as Najib looked on from the dock this afternoon.
The other law firm acted for the former finance minister in last year’s failed appeal before an apex court bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.
Shafee: Najib ‘hoodwinked’ by other firm
Among the grounds cited for the review is that the apex court then had erred in denying an application by Zaid & Co, as well as Najib’s other lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, to adjourn last year’s hearing for three to four months to help them prepare for the appeal.
In a no-holds-barred statement in open court, Shafee charged that Najib was also hoodwinked by two lawyers from India in relation to legal advice over the SRC matter.
“My client was led to believe that he (lawyer) has a fresh view of the case, and he was guaranteed by the counsel that an adjournment would be granted to enable them to submit (with sufficient preparedness),” Shafee said.
While Zaid Ibrahim, whose firm acted as solicitors declined to comment yesterday, the counter-punch came this morning with a series of jabs and hooks.
In a seven-minute video uploaded on Facebook this morning, Zaid described Shafee as “the greatest showman”, referring to the latter’s media conferences after court hearings of Najib’s cases.
‘Shafee fatigue’
Starting with the allegations made by Shafee, Zahid said: “When a lawyer like this tells lies and talks nonsense, I don’t think he will be able to do a good job for his clients.
“If you want to do justice for a client, you must have respect for the truth.”
Outlining his involvement in the case, Zaid said those in the Najib camp sought his views (after the Court of Appeal decision), to which he said that it was Shafee’s incompetence that led to this outcome.
But he saved the sucker punch for the last saying: “Another reason why Najib had problems with the court is probably (because of) Shafee’s somewhat obnoxious conduct. The courts suffered from ‘Shafee fatigue’ and that’s why we needed to change lawyers so that the judges are willing to listen and judges will have to look at the applications seriously.”
Is Zaid implying that judges were not willing to listen and not looking at applications seriously because of Shafee’s conduct?
It is not exactly sparring and the gloves are off. Etiquette, decorum, and mutual respect among lawyers have been thrown out of the window and the war of words will continue.
We, citizens, can only watch from the stands and hopefully, we can observe the sideshow being played out according to Queensbury rules. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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