KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 11): Reporters have been barred from entering Parliament to cover the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) final round of meetings on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) today.

PAC will hear testimonies from former 1MDB president and chief Datuk Shahrol Halmi and the company’s ex-chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh over the next two days.

Reporters were told today they were not allowed to go near the “closed door” session and told to wait outside the Parliament building.

According to sources, the instruction to block journalists from entering Parliament was made after PAC chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin confirmed no press conference would be held today.

Although they were informed on Wednesday that PAC would hold a press conference on Friday, several reporters arrived in hope of getting comments from Bakke after his testimony.

But they were told by security officers today that they were barred from waiting outside the room where the PAC proceedings were held.

In a statement on Tuesday, Hasan said the committee would have sufficient information from previous hearings to make an objective, transparent and fair conclusion.

The PAC probe into 1MDB has been going on since May 2015.

The auditor-general is also scheduled to present the final report on 1MDB on Feb 24 and 25.

1MDB chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin appeared before the committee on Jan 19.

Former chief Shahrol Azral had testified before the PAC on Nov 25 and Nov 30 last year.

Bakke would be appearing before the committee for the first time.