In Kuala Lumpur, the corruption trial of Datuk Seri Najib Razak was dominated by the Netflix documentary “Man On The Run,” which delves into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal. On Monday (Jan 8), the defence team brought up the documentary, demanding that the “contemptuous” show be removed from the streaming platform.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib’s lead counsel, told High Court judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah at the start of the trial that the documentary was sub judice and amounted to contempt of court.
The documentary was initially released in cinemas in Singapore and made its debut on Netflix last Friday (Jan 7). It includes interviews with key figures such as former Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, as well as former Damansara MP Tony Pua, whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo, and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown.
Najib himself was interviewed for the documentary before being incarcerated.
Muhammad Shafee, acting on Najib’s instructions, revealed plans to file contempt proceedings against Thomas and pursue legal action against Rewcastle-Brown regarding their statements in the documentary. He also called on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Home Ministry to exercise their authority and remove the documentary from the air.
Najib, 70, is facing a total of 25 charges – four for abuse of power allegedly resulting in a financial benefit of RM2.28bil, and 21 for money laundering involving the same sum of money.
The hearing is set to continue in the afternoon.
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