Prosecution complains about Najib's FB post on ex-BNM governor

1MDB TRIAL | The prosecution raised a complaint with the Kuala Lumpur High Court today over Najib Abdul Razak’s Facebook post on 1MDB-linked allegations against former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

DPP Gopal Sri Ram informed judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah regarding the former prime minister’s online comment on Dec 29 last year.

The Facebook posting contained claims against Zeti and her family in relation to 1MDB funds.

On Dec 31, Zeti had issued a media statement refuting the allegations.

During Najib’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial today, Sri Ram informed the court that the Facebook posting was an attack against Zeti, who is one of the prosecution's witnesses.

“He (Najib) appeared to be conducting his defence via a Facebook posting. We take strong exception to this as it led to the witness responding (via a media statement).

“Trial has to take place in a court of law, not in the public domain, certainly not social media.

“Being aware that she is a witness, he (Najib) should not have done this. It puts her in a difficult position,” Sri Ram said.

The DPP said the prosecution does not wish to resort to applying for revocation of bail (of Najib) or apply for committal in order to prevent the main trial from being sidetracked.

He added that the prosecution is only applying for the court to issue a warning to the accused.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah questioned why his client was being targeted when the allegation was first raised in a blog by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and was also reported by news portal Free Malaysia Today.

He alleged that no action was taken by the attorney-general on the online allegation.

“Nobody made any noise and the attorney-general kept quiet,” Shafee said.

Sequerah then set Thursday to hear further submissions from parties over the matter.

The proceedings today resumed with the 10th prosecution witness, former 1MDB chief executive officer Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, taking the stand. 

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