KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has apologised for comments made regarding the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial, where he is acting as the lead defence counsel.
The senior lawyer, however, maintained that his statement made during a press conference on Monday (Oct 3) — revolving funds in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's accounts — were accurate and not exaggerated.
"[I] profusely apologise [if the] purpose of the media statement was misconstrued," he said.
He said that the main purpose of the press conference was to inform the media of Najib's application to attend Parliament proceedings. The Pekan Member of Parliament's application was rejected by the Prisons Department.
Shafee added that he was not arguing the merits of the case via the media.
Rather, he said the press conference was held in response to the queries of some reporters who had been asking about the transactions in Najib's accounts.
The senior defence counsel also maintained that he will continue to engage with the media, but will refrain from commenting on how the prosecution conducts its case.
"If there is a necessity to make [statements] barring contempt, we will engage with the media to clarify [the details]. Maybe we shouldn't comment on how [the prosecution] runs the case," he said.
This comes after lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said on Tuesday that Shafee's comments could be seen as an attack against the prosecution. Any dissatisfaction, he said, should be aired in the court before the trial judge.
Sri Ram also warned the senior defence counsel not to conduct a trial by media and told him to fight his case in the court, adding that he would have to ask the court to bar discussions of the trial in public by those involved.
The lead prosecutor also rubbished Shafee's claims that the prosecution was suppressing evidence, saying that his job is only to prove that 1MDB monies went into Najib's accounts.
The former Federal Court judge repeated his grouses in the court on Wednesday, saying that he could not respond to allegations raised in a similar fashion, nor would it be proper for him to do so.
"My only point is that he (Shafee) could have raised it in the court," he said.
After listening to both counsels, presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said that he hopes this puts an end to the matter.
During the press conference on Monday, Shafee highlighted inflows of funds into Najib's accounts in February and June 2011 amounting to about RM60.6 million (about US$20 million) that were purportedly from a member of the Saudi royalty, namely Prince Faisal Turki. This involves the first criminal breach of trust charge the former premier faces in the 1MDB-Tanore trial.
The defence claims that this was part of a gift to Najib from former Madinah province governor Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud.
At the press conference, Shafee said that the prosecution had only highlighted those two transactions, but did not highlight five other transactions of incoming funds to Najib's accounts between August 2011 and August 2012, allegedly from Prince Turki and the Ministry of Finance of Riyadh amounting to about US$180 million.
He said that the defence had obtained this information from their own investigation, and that Sri Ram and the prosecution had failed to disclose or deliver these particulars.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
Users of The Edge Markets app may tap here to access the live report.