The High Court here today set aside the leave obtained by Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas to initiate committal proceedings against lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over his media statement in relation to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s case.
This followed judge Datuk Mohd Firuz Jaffril’s decision of allowing Shafee’s application to set aside the leave obtained by the AG.
Firuz, in his judgment, said the originating summons (OS) filed by AG was lacking in particulars on the contempt charge against Shafee.
“The person who is charged with contempt must know exactly what he is charged for. The OS must set out fairly and adequately describe the alleged contemptuous words uttered by Muhammad Shafee,” he said.
The judge also found that the impugned words were not deliberately uttered by Shafee but were a reply to a question raised by a journalist.
Firuz added the alleged contempt complaint against Shafee about “scandalising the court” was nowhere to be found in the AG’s application.
“It is clearly missing in his statement.”
The court also ordered the AG to pay RM30,000 in costs to Shafee who was named as defendant in the originating summons.
Shafee’s lawyer had initially asked for RM150,000 but the counsel from AGC said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas was merely carrying out his duties to defend the judiciary.
Firuz later settled on RM30,000, after taking into account the government’s current fiscal position.
Lawyer David Mathews represented Shafee while senior federal counsel Alice Loke and Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for the AG Chambers in this contempt case.
On March 1, the High Court allowed Thomas’s application for leave to initiate contempt-of-court proceedings against Shafee.
In the motion filed in February this year, Thomas said Shafee was an advocate and solicitor representing Najib who had been charged with several offences related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
He said that on Feb 7, 2019, after the court proceedings involving Najib in the High Court, the defendant was interviewed by several journalists outside the courtroom, and the interview was recorded by a videographer from Kinitv.com and telecast on KiniTV which was accessible via https://m.kinitv.com/video/70311O8.
In the video, when asked about Najib’s chances of success in the SRC International trial, Shafee told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex: “Well, we have been preparing a long time. But there’s always, last minute, a lot of changes. That has been disturbed.”
“But we think our case is very good. If we have the judge alone, do not influence the judge, if the judge is straight, if witnesses are not coached, and not fabricated evidence, we should win. Much to your surprise. My opinion is we should win.”
Thomas claimed that the defendant knew or ought to have known that the offensive statement was contemptuous to the judge and would undermine the administration of justice and public confidence in the judicial system in Malaysia.
He said that considering the words in its entirety would reasonably be perceived by the public that if the accused was convicted, the trial judge was not straight but was influenced, the witnesses were coached and the evidence fabricated.
The AG had sought to initiate contempt proceedings on grounds that he, as the guardian of public interest, was tasked with protecting the integrity and administration of justice.
Meanwhile, senior federal counsel Shamsul told reporters that he would seek instruction from the AG of whether to appeal against the decision.