KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has launched an attempt, through his defence team, to have the “Man on the Run” documentary taken down from Netflix.
His defence lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, put the newly-released documentary under the court’s spotlight during the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial today by informing the court that the documentary is “extremely” sub-judiced and contemptuous.
He also informed the court that he would be writing a letter to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission as well as the Home Ministry to take the necessary actions to take down the documentary.
He added that they have been instructed by Najib to also initiate contempt proceedings against former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and file a legal suit against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown over their comments published in the documentary.
“Clare said the worst things – she mentioned about the ‘stolen’ US$681 million that went into Najib’s account, but she purposely never mentioned that US$620 million had been returned. She also claimed that the former AG, (Tan Sri Abdul) Gani Patail’s house, was raided and that he was arrested.
“When in fact, my learned prosecution friend can confirm there was no such thing! Gani stepped down; he resigned.
“She further made a bizarre statement that when you go against Najib, he will then take all ‘desperate measures’, and carried on talking about a young deputy public prosecutor who was kidnapped along the road, and finally murdered for preparing the charge sheet against Najib.
“Clare, together with Tommy, was saying that Najib is basically responsible for the death of the late Kevin Morais! It (made) my client look like a serial murderer! That’s how serious it is; they linked it to 1MDB!,” he said.
He also said that Thomas had committed contempt when making comments about 1MDB outside of court.
“He (Tommy) said that the decision in 1MDB was made between Najib and Jho Low. He makes that conclusion from outside of court.”
He further listed down other personalities that appeared in the documentary, including former United States ambassador John Mallet and The Edge publisher Datuk Ho Kay Tat, along with their comments.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Akram Gharib confirmed that he was only informed of the documentary this morning and that he has yet to watch the documentary.
He also informed the court that he would only take necessary action by informing AG Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh of further instructions.
The ‘Man on the Run’ documentary, which was directed by Cassius Michael Kim, entails the story of the 1MDB scandal involving fugitive businessman Jho Taek Low and his alleged ploy to embezzle 1MDB funds to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Najib, who was also one of the personalities interviewed on April 3, 2022, for the documentary, appeared one hour into the documentary.
He began his interview by reminding the team that he would have to stop the interview at any point, whenever it would be borderline sub-judice and contempt of court, as the case involving 1MDB funds is still ongoing in court.
The documentary was initially screened in cinemas nationwide in October of last year. It was then made available on Netflix starting January 5 this year.
The 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah (now a Court of Appeal judge) continues. – January 8, 2023