The Kuala Lumpur High Court has decided to air a portion of a video of former special prosecutor Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's talk behind close doors.

The talk was at a road-show organised by Umno on Feb 17 last year during which Shafee had allegedly revealed victim Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's in-camera testimony during former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's second sodomy trial.

During today's hearing in court, as the video showed Shafee just about to reveal details of Anwar Ibrahim's supposed foreplay, Justice Hanipah Farikullah interrupted the proceedings to ask lawyers on both sides whether the screening should continue.

After some discussion in court, and an adjournment for lunch break, lawyers from both parties agreed that the contents should be treated as in-camera evidence for now, and Justice Hanipah made orders accordingly.

Members of the media and members of the public were asked to leave the courtroom for about 30 minutes, out of the screening of over two hours.

Asked for an explanation, Shafee's lawyer Kamarul Hisham told Malaysiakini after today's proceedings that the court is treating the statements as though it is in-camera evidence for now, pending submissions and a court decision on whether it is in fact in-camera.

“The court took the precaution of preserving the in-camera evidence although it has been reported, so that it cannot be accessed by members of the public. We are quite agreeable that we should leave it like that [...]

“The court has to rule whether this is in-camera evidence. Whether this is in-camera evidence is part of the issue of this case.

“So she (the judge) is not making a final ruling. She is just saying that, let's preserve this until parties can argue about it later,” he said.

Earlier before the lunch break, Kamarul had argued in court that while details in the video started out as in-camera evidence, they have already been widely reported and should no longer be considered as 'in-camera'.

In addition, the references in the video had also been made in submissions and decisions by the Court of Appeal and Federal Court during Anwar's sodomy trial.

“Any member of the public can view those documents for a fee,” he told the court.

Defence counsel Ambiga Sreenevasan acknowledged that the matter had been made public but said that the in-camera nature of the testimony should be preserved.

Anwar can't reply to the claims

Shafee had filed his suit on March 12 last year, a day before the Malaysian Bar AGM, to stop senior lawyer Tommy Thomas and former Court of Appeal judge VC George from tabling a motion against him following the series of road-shows the Umno-linked lawyer participated in against former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim

Thomas and George filed the motion against Shafee wanting him to be brought to the Bar's disciplinary board over the road-shows and interviews he gave to the media after securing Anwar's conviction at the Federal Court.

They cited Shafee's actions of holding press conferences in criticising Anwar, violated Rules 5(a), 31, 32, 33 and 49 of the Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978, and that Anwar who is serving time in prison cannot reply to the claims.

Shafee obtained an injunction to stop the motion from being tabled and today is the first day hearing of his suit against Thomas, George, and former Bar president Christopher Leong.

The hearing will continue with Shafee's cross-examination tomorrow afternoon.