Shafee says worsening pain caused hearing postponement, wrist now 'much better'

PUTRAJAYA, March 15 ― Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today said his injured left wrist is “much better” and explained that Tuesday (March 12) court hearing here was postponed as his pain had been increasing then.

Shafee was responding to the questions on why he was able to attend a separate case in Shah Alam on Tuesday morning before subsequently asking the Court of Appeal later in the day for the postponement.

Shafee explained he was already experiencing slight pain in court on Monday (March 11), but that the pain became worse from 2am onwards on Tuesday and that he went to court despite being in severe pain.

“But because I have already made arrangments in this court, as well as Samirah in the Shah Alam court, so in spite of the pain, I turned up in both courts,” he told reporters when met at the Court of Appeal here, referring to the mention of the Cradle Fund former CEO Nazrin Hassan's murder case in Shah Alam and the Court of Appeal matter.

“Samirah was just a mention, but after Samirah, people forget I turned up here. I turned up here with the injury because I thought I could manage, but obviously the pain was unbearable and the swell was becoming bigger and bigger,” he added.

“It became worse from 2am but it got unbearable for me to hold the pain sometime just before the afternoon, I think about 11am it got worse,” he said when explaining how the pain became progressively worse on March 12.

Shafee said that he subsequently visited a hospital where it was discovered that he did not suffer a fracture.

“And I was lucky I went to the hospital, because they told me there’s blood collection, because there is injury inside. Luckily the bone not broken, but there’s injury inside, there’s free flow blood inside and it became like a tennis ball,” he said, later adding that he has the relevant medical certificate and medical leave for his injury.

On Tuesday, Shafee had asked for an adjournment of the Court of Appeal’s hearing of an appeal related to his client Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s case involving RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, due to the injury to his left wrist.

Shafee told the Court of Appeal then that he fell after his dog jumped on him, and that he needed immediate medical attention through an X-ray scan for his wrist.

The Court of Appeal then allowed the matter to be postponed, fixing today for the continued hearing where Shafee presented his arguments.

Shafee on Wednesday released a statement published on Malaysiakini that gave a detailed account of his injury, which he said was caused when one of his guard dogs playfully jumped on him on March 10 and when he fell on his left arm after losing his balance.

In the statement, Shafee explained the chronology of his injury and said he initially felt no pain before feeling his left hand stiffen on the night of March 10.

Shafee said the pain began on March 11 but was still bearable during the first day of the four Najib appeals at the Court of Appeal then, but felt a “throbbing pain” and a “significant swelling” on the upper side of his left hand  that night.

Unable to sleep that night on March 11, Shafee said the pain worsened and was so severe that he concluded he must have “fractured” his hand from the fall, also describing his swelling to have grown to half the size of a tennis ball.

Speaking to reporters today, Shafee explained that he had on March 12 morning sought to arrange for an appointment at Columbia Hospital in Shah Alam before the Cradle murder case mention at 9am, but said it was not possible as the orthopaedic specialist there was not available then.

He said he then made his way to Putrajaya as he had to be here by 10.30am for the Court of Appeal matter.

“I quickly came here, on the way here I made another arrangement with the Putrajaya hospital, but because they told me to go off and treat my injury first, I went to my orthopaedic specialist I know for many years in Tung Shin hospital,” he said.

On Wednesday, Shafee had said the specialist at Tung Shin had immediately upon examination on Tuesday believed that there could have been a fracture, but said an X-ray scan revealed otherwise.

“It was massive soft tissue and blood capillaries injury causing significant internal bleeding that accounted for the tennis ball-like swelling and pain,” Shafee had said in his statement.