Rafizi says cannot enter defence over OSA charges
PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said he cannot enter defence for his two charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as the charge refers to "page 98 of the 1MDB audit report" but the complete page has never been produced in court.
"Without (the complete) page 98 of the 1MDB audit report as stated in the charges, I would be prejudiced against as I cannot refer to the document throughout my defence in this trial.
"I have never been in possession of the complete page 98 of the 1MDB audit report at any time, as were stated in the charges against me," Rafizi said in his testimony at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
As such, he added, he requested that he be acquitted of the charges.
PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said he cannot enter defence for his two charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as the charge refers to "page 98 of the 1MDB audit report" but the complete page has never been produced in court.
"Without (the complete) page 98 of the 1MDB audit report as stated in the charges, I would be prejudiced against as I cannot refer to the document throughout my defence in this trial.
"I have never been in possession of the complete page 98 of the 1MDB audit report at any time, as were stated in the charges against me," Rafizi said in his testimony at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
As such, he added, he requested that he be acquitted of the charges.
Only a section of page 98 of the audit report was ever produced in court, stressed his counsel Gobind Singh Deo.
To hammer his point home, he recalled the prosecution's first witness, National Audit Department deputy audit director Nor Salwani Muhammad, who confirmed that several paragraphs from page 98 were indeed missing in the exhibit produced.
Judge Zulqarnain Hassan has set the decision for Nov 14.
Rafizi is facing charges under Sections 8(1)(c)(iii) and 8(1)(c)(iv) of the Act – one charge for the possession of page 98 of the 1MDB audit report without authorisation; and another charge for the unauthorised disclosure of the document.
He released the documents in a bid to expose links between Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and 1MDB. Malaysiakini is unable to report on its contents due to restrictions under the OSA.
The charge under Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the Act provides a jail term of up to seven years, if found guilty, while Section 8(1)(c)(iv) of the same Act also provides a maximum seven-year jail term, upon conviction.


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