PUTRAJAYA (Jan 22): Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he did not interfere with the attorney general’s (AG) prosecutorial discretion while he was prime minister.
The now imprisoned Najib added that there were times when he would be wrongly 'blamed' over a decision to prosecute, when he had nothing to do with it.
Testifying in his defence in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial, Najib cited the case of former transport minister Tun Ling Liong Sik, who was charged with cheating over a land purchase for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.
"In fact, when someone [is] charged and I get the blame. When the decision of the [then] AG. [Like] Ling Liong Sik's case that was former AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail' decision. He was adamant [on the charging].
"[Ling] is not on speaking terms with me since then," he said.
Ling, who served as transport minister from 1986 till 2003, was charged for the multi-billion-ringgit scandal in 2010. He stood trial and was acquitted in 2013.
Najib added that it was usual practice for the AG to brief him on cases of public interest, but he was always "mindful" not to interfere in the prosecutorial process. He also said that he cannot direct the AG on which direction an investigation should take.
Najib reiterates he only received brief, didn't ask for favours or instruct soon-to-be MACC
The 1MDB proceedings veered into this topic on Wednesday as lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah re-examined his client on purported interference in 1MDB investigations.
Shafee asked Najib about the purported audio recording of a telephone call between his client and then deputy public prosecutor and soon-to-be Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Dzulkifli Ahmad, where Najib was updated on ongoing investigations in 2015.
The defence has maintained throughout the trial that the authenticity of the recording can't be verified, while raising the legality of recording a sitting PM's personal conversations.
Najib on Wednesday repeated that he saw nothing wrong with being briefed on the state of the investigations.
Shafee: [The prosecution] has asked why you spoke to Dzulkifli, that it is not ethical. Was it wrong for someone to call you and you answer him?
Najib: No, I don't think it is wrong.
Shafee: He was [briefing] you?
Najib: He didn't say anything more than that, he was updating me.
Shafee: Did you ask for a favour?
Najib: No, I didn't.
Dzulkifli was subsequently elevated to MACC chief, replacing Tan Sri Abu Kassim, who was transferred out of the anti-graft body.
When asked by his counsel if Najib was aware that Abu Kassim had passed information on 1MDB to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Najib claimed that he only found out later on.
Note that neither Shafee nor Najib elaborated further or produced documents to back this claim.
Wednesday marks Najib's 22nd day on the stand. He first started his testimony on Dec 2, after presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the ex-PM and ordered him to enter his defence.
In this trial, Najib faces four abuse of power and 21 money-laundering charges.
The trial continues.