KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Man on the Run director Cassius Michael Kim said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had not sought to stop the documentary during its making despite understanding its implications.

Expressing surprise over the petition from Najib’s lawyer to now have the documentary removed from the Netflix video streaming service, Kim told Malaysiakini that no representative from the ex-PM’s side had communicated their disapproval up to that point.

"Perhaps it is naivete on my part, but I was surprised to hear of Najib’s lawyer’s petition to ban the film. No one from the former PM’s camp had reached out to us since our interview in April 2022.

"Additionally, no one had protested or made these claims of sub judice when the film was released in Malaysian cinemas in October 2023. Therefore, all the attention of the past few weeks was unexpected, to say the least.

"As to the substance of these claims and the overall messaging from the former PM’s representatives — I find it laughable. You hear it from Najib himself as he sits for the interview: ‘You have the understanding, in case it borders on sub judice or contempt of court, I’ve got to stop that because the trial is on’,” he was quoted saying.

In an email interview with the news portal, Kim said that Najib was accompanied during filming by both adviser Ahmad Lutfi Azhar and attorney Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee.

"The three would huddle together every 30-45 minutes to discuss what we spoke of on-camera and at no point during the nearly four-hour interview did any of the three raise objections to what was discussed.

"The timing of all this is certainly very curious,” he was quoted as saying.

Yesterday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said government will let the court decide whether the Man on The Run documentary should be removed from the online streaming platform.

Fahmi said that the ministry has sought advice from the attorney general, the ministry’s legal adviser as well as legal experts in the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the matter.

The minister also noted that the documentary about the 1MDB financial scandal had been in cinemas since October last year without complaints.

In a letter dated January 11, Najib through the law firm representing him — Shafee and Co — asked the Malaysian government to have Man on The Run banned in the country and for action to be taken against its makers under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act.

He alleged the contents of the 1MDB documentary to biased against him amid his ongoing 1MDB trial.