KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Yesterday’s live broadcast of purported recorded  conversations between Datuk Seri Najib Razak and several prominent public figures here and abroad places risks on the former prime minister’s ongoing corruption trial, DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh said today.

The DAP legal bureau chief and lawmaker said it could amount to a "trial by media” and chided the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for releasing the audio recordings to the press.

"No doubt, we all want to know and get to the bottom of what was allegedly said in the said recordings and whether or not the individuals involved are responsible for any offence which may have been committed but that is the job of the courts, not the media or for that matter, any agency investigating the individuals purportedly in the said recordings,” the Bukit Gelugor MP said in a statement.

Ramkarpal, who is also a lawyer, said that it is for the MACC or police to investigate such conversations and present their findings in court.

"If such a trend were to continue, we will soon see alleged criminals being found guilty in a press conference and not a court of law,” he said.

"If there is evidence against the individuals implicated in the said recordings, charge them and present those recordings in court as evidence for its consideration.

"Those accused would have every right to challenge those recordings and it would be for the court to decide if such a challenge is sustainable or not,” he added.

While saying that it is not for the government to dictate how MACC goes about its affairs as it is an independent agency, Ramkarpal argued that the rule of law must be observed and also claimed that the MACC’s actions yesterday were inconsistent with the rule of law.

Ramkarpal also said that the law may allow for spying on individuals in their phone conversations, but argued that it is unconstitutional and cannot be condoned as it infringes the right to privacy.

The MACC yesterday played nine audio clips of seven individuals speaking on the phone with a length of about 45 minutes to the media, with the press conference also broadcasted live by media outlets.