KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 19): Testimony from witnesses who have taken the stand in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial were peppered with “hearsay” evidence which the court ought not give consideration to, averred the defence.
This particularly applies to statements pertaining to the late Datuk Azlin Alias, who was former prime minister (PM) Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s principal private secretary, and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), whom the prosecution claims was Najib’s “mirror-image” in the 1MDB scam.
Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued on Thursday that witnesses had claimed that Azlin and Jho Low were acting on behalf of the ex-PM, but the veracity of their testimonies could not be confirmed by the individuals, as one has passed away and the other’s whereabout is unknown.
Azlin died in a helicopter crash in 2015, while Jho Low, who has an Interpol Red Notice against him, is still at large.
The defence counsel referred to Najib’s former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin’s testimony during the trial, where Amhari said that on numerous occasions, he had lingering doubts on whether the instructions given were indeed within Najib's knowledge.
However, Amhari testified that Azlin would verify that Najib had authorised Jho Low to act and coordinate on matters involving the company.
Besides Amhari, there were numerous other witnesses who testified in the six-year trial that Azlin’s comments and directions were directly from Najib himself.
Shafee slammed these testimonies as “terrible hearsay”, which were “calculated to be prejudicial” to his client.
“Where is the direct evidence to say that it has got to do with my client? They didn’t hear from Najib, [they are saying] that they heard from Azlin that Najib gave Jho Low authority,” Shafee argued.
Shafee added that the bulk of the 50 witnesses’ testimony contained similar catch-phrases such as “working in silo”, “top-down approach”, and “Jho Low’s talking points”, leading him to think that the statements were “tailored” to build a narrative against his client.
The defence also contended that besides Amhari, other witness testimonies were equally riddled with inconsistencies, and the court ought to treat their testimonies with “extreme caution”.
The other testimonies which the defence claimed were unreliable were from former 1MDB chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, former 1MDB chief executive officer Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, former 1MDB chief financial officer Azmi Tahir, former 1MDB legal counsel Jasmine Loo, and former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
The defence is still submitting at the end of the prosecution’s stage of the trial. The prosecution has yet to submit.
The trial is set to continue on Sept 30, and trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah has instructed parties to complete their submissions by Oct 4.
He will then set a date to deliver his decision on whether the ex-PM has to enter his defence, or can walk free.
In this trial, Najib faces four counts of abuse of power for using his position as then-prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers to receive gratifications worth US$620 million (RM2.27 billion). He also faces 21 money laundering charges.