Court must ask Shafee to explain Sodomy II remarks, says Pakatan
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has called on the High Court hearing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial to haul up lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over allegations that he conspired with the Najib administration to destroy the opposition leader’s image.
Opposition lawmakers told The Malaysian Insider that the court must find out if the prominent lawyer had met media chiefs along with staff from the Prime Minister’s Office to subvert media coverage of the high-profile trial.
“This raises doubt over the proceedings of the case and the court should call on Shafee to explain to ensure the credibility of the trial,” said PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar (picture).
This was echoed by Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, who said that as Shafee is frequently employed by and linked to backroom discussions with Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin Umno, he cannot be considered a neutral party.
“Justice must be seen to be served. This was also the lawyer who said openly to the media that it was 99.9 per cent sure that Anwar was the man in a sex video,” the Beruas MP said, referring to allegations earlier this year that the PKR de facto leader was the man recorded having sex with an unknown woman.
With Anwar’s ongoing sodomy trial winding to a close, the Permatang Pauh MP had given his statement from the dock, claiming that the accusation, which surfaced over three years ago, was a conspiracy by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to end his political career.
Muhammad Shafee has come under scrutiny online purportedly for interfering with the news coverage of the controversial court case by issuing instructions to mainstream media editors and reporters over their reporting of Anwar’s statement.
The alleged conspiracy was given more flavour by a blogger calling himself Ahmat Gaza who claimed that a clandestine meeting on August 23 at the swanky Le Meridien Hotel in the city here included one of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media advisers, Abdul Jalil Hamid.
But the lawyer scoffed at the allegations, stating that the meeting with various media such as Utusan Malaysia, TV3 and The Star was not a secret and he was there to talk about the law of contempt.
