Najib's lawyers send letter to Fahmi seeking take-down of documentary

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s legal team has sent a letter to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil for the government to compel Netflix to take down the 1MDB-linked documentary “Man on the Run”.

According to a copy of the letter issued to the ministry yesterday, law firm Shafee and Co informed the minister that the documentary contained several interviewees’ comments that amounted to contempt of court due to the ongoing RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption trial (1MDB-Tanore case) against Najib.

The lawyers contended that the remarks aired in the documentary were “defamatory, sub judice, prejudicial, one-sided and/or has not been proven whether via documentary evidence or oral testimonies of witnesses in any trial proceedings, including the 1MDB-Tanore case trial”.

In the letter, Najib’s legal team provided several transcripts of the documentary’s interviews that allegedly amounted to being sub-judicial to the ongoing 1MDB trial before the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The interviewees mentioned in the transcripts are former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, former US ambassador to Malaysia John R Malott, Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown, former FBI officers to Malaysia Charles O’Neal and David Smith, former Damansara MP Tony Pua as well as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The lawyers reminded Fahmi that Article 126 of the Federal Constitution empowers the judiciary to punish any acts of contempt against it, as well as Section 13 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.

The lawyers urged the minister to take action against the documentary makers under Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which deals with the prohibition of offensive content.

“Finally, we believe that Yang Bahagia (YBhg) Tuan, YBhg Tan Sri, YBhg Datuk is aware and take note of the existence of the need to safeguard the right of our client to a fair trial without defamation or contempt of court as well as any statement outside court that is prejudicial and contemptuous of court, that is capable of jeopardising our client’s right to a fair trial,” Najib’s lawyers said.

The letter has also been carbon copied (CC) to the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex, Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, and the prosecution at the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

When contacted, Najib's lawyer Alaistair Brandah Norman confirmed the letter was sent out around 4pm yesterday.

Malaysiakini is attempting to reach out to the ministry and the prosecution, as well as the documentary maker and interviewees, for their response.

On Jan 8, at the onset of the High Court 1MDB trial, lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah of Najib’s intent for the government to make Netflix remove the documentary from its streaming platform.

COMMENT | 'Man on the Run': Mother of all sideshows

Najib didn't inform cabinet of US$3.5b 1MDB bond: MACC officer

Najib seeks for govt to take down 1MDB doc on Netflix