KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s lawyer said his client was simply boasting about winning one of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s criminal cases, not committing contempt.

Shafee’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh argued at the High Court today that readers of Shafee’s comments in a February press conference would not interpret the latter as being in contempt of court.

“With respect, this is a chest-thumping statement, I agree, but can we really say that for the average reader, the statement comes across with the impression that if the judge is not straight, that means Najib is going to be convicted?” Harvinderjit said in court today, referring to former prime minister Najib.

Harvinderjit was referring to an excerpt of Shafee’s February 7, 2019 remarks in response to a reporter after court proceedings involving Najib’s case: “Well, we have been preparing a long time. But that’s always last minute a lot of things. But that has been disturbed. But we think our case is very good. Ok? If you leave the judge alone, do not influence the judge, if the judge is straight, if the witnesses are not coached and not fabricated evidence, we should win. Ok? Much to your surprise. My opinion is we should win. Ok? Alright.”

Advertisement

Harvinderjit said Shafee’s February comments contained words such as “in my opinion” and multiple “ifs”, arguing that this meant readers would not think that Shafee was asserting that the administration of justice would be undermined in Najib’s cases.

“The average reader of reasonable intelligence knows what is the difference between chest-thumping statement and scandalising the courts,” he argued.

Today was the second day of hearing of Shafee’s application to the High Court to set aside the leave granted to the attorney-general to initiate contempt of court proceedings against him.

Advertisement

David Thomas Mathews, another lawyer who represented Shafee, today claimed that the method used by the attorney-general to start the contempt of court proceedings was allegedly intended to avoid the matter from being heard by High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Mohd Nazlan is currently hearing Najib’s ongoing trial in relation to former 1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million of funds, while High Court judge Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril is the judge hearing the bid to cite Shafee for contempt of court over the lawyer’s comments on Najib’s case.

Shafee’s lawyer Mathews argued today that Mohd Nazlan would be the appropriate or suitable judge to decide if contempt of court proceedings can be started against Shafee.

“We submit that the application should have been brought in the first place before Justice Nazlan.

“He would be the best person to determine if the words give rise to a real risk of contempt of proceedings,” he said.

Mathews claimed that the filing of the application for leave to start the contempt of court proceedings against Shafee was filed in a different division of the High Court, as it was allegedly “intentionally calculated” to ensure that it is not heard before Mohd Nazlan.

“This is forum shopping and constitutes an abuse of process,” he said when reading out Shafee’s affidavit to support the application to set aside leave.

But Mathews also clarified that he did not mean the attorney-general had sought to have the application for leave to start contempt of court proceedings to be heard before Mohd Firuz as he thought the judge would be favourable.

“When I say forum shopping, I am in no way suggesting that by the application being heard before My Lord, that the AG for some reason thought My Lord would be predisposed to allow the application. Not at all My Lord.

“Judge shopping also includes judge avoidance, so avoiding a particular judge is the same form of abuse...I don’t want any aspersions cast on My Lord,” Mathews said.

The arguments by Shafee’s lawyers are that Mohd Nazlan would have knowledge of Shafee’s remarks in court and a letter by Shafee that allegedly “exonerated” him of the alleged act of contempt of court, with his lawyers also arguing that such details were not disclosed to Mohd Firuz when he decided to allow the contempt of court proceedings to start.

The hearing before Mohd Firuz will resume at 3pm on June 14, which is when senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan is expected to present arguments on why the High Court should maintain its decision to allow leave to start contempt of court proceedings against Shafee.

Aside from the Raya break next week, Harvinderjit and Shafee will be representing Najib in the SRC case in the days before June 14 and a morning session on June 14 itself.

On March 1, Mohd Firuz allowed the attorney-general’s application for leave to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Shafee.

Among other things, the attorney-general claimed that Shafee knew or ought to have known that his remarks “were contemptuous to the judge and would undermine the administration of justice and public confidence in the judicial system in Malaysia”, and “would clearly place the trial judge in embarrassing situation and create a state of uncertainty about the fair and just determination of the case”.

Shafee was also claimed to have knew or ought to have known that his statements were deliberately uttered “with intent to pressure and influence” the court’s decision.