PUTRAJAYA (April 21): Senior defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said that Datuk Seri Najib Razak's defence team would continue to initiate contempt of court proceedings against former attorney general (AG) Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, despite an alleged letter by the current AG to reconsider the move.
Speaking to the media during a press conference on Monday, Shafee claimed that the current AG, Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, had written a letter to the lawyer about three weeks ago.
"[The AG] wrote a letter and asked me to reconsider and not to file. So, we are considering it. But, having considered, we still think that we should file the contempt," he said during the lunch break of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial.
The senior lawyer added that they would file the legal action in about one or two weeks.
The Edge has reached out to Mohd Dusuki to verify Shafee's claims.
This legal action surrounds Shafee's claim that Ahmad Terrirudin's silence on the existence of a royal addendum granted to Shafee’s client, which would allow former prime minister Najib to serve his jail sentence under house arrest.
The senior lawyer first voiced the intention to file the legal proceedings during a press conference on Feb 12, against Ahmad Terrirudin, who is currently a Federal Court judge. However, since then, there had been no updates on the matter.
According to news reports, Shafee said that this came after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim confirmed in January that the then-AG had received a letter concerning the royal addendum, which had ordered Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
However, Anwar noted that after the letter was received, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong changed, and the AG submitted the letter to Istana Negara for the newly appointed Agong, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, to decide.
Najib is currently serving his prison sentence in Kajang Prison after the apex court dismissed his final appeal in the RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd case in August 2022.
In February 2024, the Pardons Board reduced his initial 12-year jail sentence and fine of RM210 million to six years and a RM50 million fine.
The appellate court has ordered Najib's judicial review linked to the addendum to be remitted to the High Court to have its merits heard.