KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — The media is at no fault for factual reporting on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC International Sdn Bhd case, the National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJM) said today.
The NUJM was responding to Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s reported remarks in a forum titled “Media Townhall: Getting the Facts Right – The Untold Stories – 1MDB & Other Cases”.
Shafee had reportedly claimed that the media had not reported that the Federal Court had taken Najib’s written submissions for his appeal at the Court of Appeal stage to be used for his appeal at the Federal Court in the SRC case.
Among other things, Shafee had also reportedly said that justice would fail if the media fails to report justly .
“The NUJM views this accusation seriously. It should be noted that the proceedings of Datuk Seri Najib’s case were reported in detail by each media organisation in this country, whether it is the mainstream or alternative news channels,” the union’s president Farah Marshita said in a statement today in the Malay language.
The NUJM also stressed that there were news portals such as Malaysiakini and The Edge which had given live coverage from court throughout the four-year-long court proceedings of Najib’s SRC case from 2018 to 2022.
NUJM said Shafee’s remarks at the forum “gives a negative perception” towards the media personnel who had worked hard all this while to report on Najib’s SRC court proceedings for years.
“In line with that, NUJM is of the opinion that the media does not have to be dragged or blamed in the matter involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s case,” the national union said.
NUJM said all quarters should respect the media’s duties and provide the necessary cooperation to ensure transparent and objective news reports, and also urged for all to hold discussions with the relevant stakeholders to obtain the actual explanation before making any statements.
During the forum, Shafee had reportedly also spoken about the Federal Court not allowing Najib’s final SRC appeal hearing in August 2022 to be postponed.
This was the appeal which Najib lost and which resulted in him being imprisoned, as he remained convicted over SRC’s RM42 million.
Based on news reports including by Malay Mail, the Federal Court had on April 29, 2022 fixed the August 2022 hearing dates for Najib’s SRC appeal.
In the months leading up to Najib’s SRC appeal at the Federal Court, a number of events happened, including Najib’s May 31 application to have UK lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw represent him and which the High Court rejected on July 21.
Najib then reportedly discharged his team of lawyers and appointed a new team of lawyers to represent him, and the new defence team on July 26 asked for the SRC appeal to be postponed.
The Federal Court however on July 28 said it would stick with the August 2022 dates which were fixed in April, and that no postponements would be allowed.
On August 16, the Federal Court’s five-judge panel unanimously rejected Najib’s bid to postpone the SRC appeal hearing for three to four months, as the reasons for seeking a postponement were not reasonable.
Malay Mail had also reported that Najib’s new defence lawyer for the SRC appeal hearing, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, had told the Federal Court on August 12 that he would be relying on the defence’s submissions at the Court of Appeal stage for the Federal Court.
Teh had later indicated he would also put in fresh written submissions to the Federal Court, but subsequently clarified to the Federal Court that he would only do so if the appeal hearing was postponed.
The Federal Court on August 23, 2022 upheld Najib’s conviction and 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine.
Earlier this year, the Federal Territories Pardons Board reduced Najib’s sentence to a six-year jail term and a RM50 million fine.
The forum which Shafee spoke at comes nearly two weeks before Najib’s separate 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial resumes at the High Court.
On December 2, Najib is scheduled to begin defending himself in the trial over 1MDB’s misappropriated RM2.28 billion funds.
