This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 22, 2019 - July 28, 2019

WILL former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak be required to apologise for a Facebook post he made last week relating to the criminal charges he is facing involving the funds of SRC International Sdn Bhd — which the prosecution maintains is sub judice?

On Monday, when the trial resumes, High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali will take an hour to hear submissions from the prosecution and the defence on the July 15 post, in which he defended RM3.3 million credit card transactions at a Swiss jeweller, stating that the purchases were gifts “for a senior member of royalty”.

Last week, Najib was cautioned by the judge that further posts about his case on social media would risk a contempt of court charge.

In his post, Najib claimed that most of the RM3.3 million spent in August 2014 on his two credit cards linked to his AmBank accounts — the same accounts into which SRC money was allegedly deposited in 2014/15 — was for gifts to members of a royal family “in a government that is not Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi”.

The spending relates to 10 credit card swipes totalling €763,500 or some RM3.3 million at Swiss luxury jeweller De Grisogono in Italy.

Najib’s post was ostensibly to counter the testimony of AmBank vice-president Yeoh Eng Leong, who had told the court about the purchase of numerous pieces of luxury jewellery in Italy as well as other expenses incurred in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, among others.

Najib also uploaded a screenshot of a letter dated Aug 15, 2014, addressed to his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor — but with the author’s name blacked out — confirming receipt of the gifts and thanking her for her generosity.

Najib said he had blacked out the recipient’s name to protect his or her privacy, but added that he intends to produce the original letter as evidence in court.

The demand for an apology arose after Attorney-General Tommy Thomas insisted that the posting was sub judice. (Sub judice refers to a matter under judicial consideration, which is prohibited from public discussion.)

Thomas, who leads the prosecution, told judge Nazlan that no person should be allowed to post on social media anything to support the defence, and Najib too must comply.

“We seek your lordship’s direction to request for Najib to issue a direct apology, not via his lawyers. We also request his lordship to advise Najib to make sure this does not happen again. If he wants to say something over the charge, he can say it if his defence is called,” said Thomas.

This is not the first time Najib has uploaded personal explanations regarding the SRC trial on his Facebook or social media account.

Meanwhile, he has incurred a warning from the judge about his tardiness in court. Having been late on multiple occasions, he was rebuked last week after he failed to be in the dock when the judge entered the court room in the afternoon.

In criminal trials, the accused needs to be in the dock before the proceedings start.

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