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Prosecutors complained yesterday that the wife of the ex-PM, Rosmah Mansor, who stands accused of a string of money laundering charges (which do not even begin to tackle the substance of her unexplained wealth) has been engaged in witness tampering.
The former prime minister also appears to be engaged in a similar exercise in the full glare of publicity, as he has started commenting again on evidence given in a murder trial, which he is seeking to blame on this blog. Ironically, he has previously attempted to gag reporting of his own trial by again blaming this blog for allegedly doing the very same thing.
Earlier in the week, after an accused alleged in court that he was the subject of an attempted bribe orchestrated by Najib himself to take the blame for the murder of prosecutor Kevin Morais, Najib saw fit to make public statements claiming it was proven that Morais was not linked to the drawing up of charges against him in 2015. He pointed out that Sarawak Report had cited information that Morais was involved in drawing up the charges and appeared to blame this blog for the allegation made in court.
The objective was plain, which was to dispel the notion of a possible motive for him wishing to approach the suspect in the manner describe and thereby to affect the course of the trial from outside the court.
So, Sarawak Report, having been dragged into the matter, responded that whilst we are willing to remain open about whether the matter constituted a motive (after all the issue is before a court) it was wrong for Najib to claim it was ‘proven’ Kevin Morais did not draw up the charge sheet.
A leading MACC figure has said that as far as he knew Kevin was not involved, which Najib calls proof. However, Sarawak Report has pointed out that the MACC officer was not the person to ask (as he himself acknowledged), so that comment does not constitute proof and the former Attorney General is the person to clarify the issue.
Meanwhile, colleagues and relatives of Kevin Morais have publicly stated they do believe he assisted in the drawing up of the charge sheet.
It is worth bearing in mind that when Sarawak Report first reported the matter in 2015 Najib claimed the charge sheet itself was a forgery concocted by Sarawak Report. He now appears to admit the charges themselves were genuine (given he is now being prosecuted under the same provisions) and yet has fallen back on trumpeting that Kevin Morais was not involved. He should encourage exploration of the truth instead and allow the trial to complete its work without this outside interference.
Indeed, what Sarawak Report has concentrated upon reporting throughout this matter has been Kevin’s own family’s concern over the unnecceptable handling of the entire case, starting with the mis-management of the autopsy and the forced disposal of his body by Najib’s newly appointed AG against their wishes. We have raised questions about this and unwarranted interference by the AG’s office, which have not been answered to anyone’s satisfaction.
Instead, Najib is now claiming Sarawak Report has ‘admitted’ there was no connection between his murder and the charges drawn up against him, in a clear attempt to deflect from what a witness is presently saying in court.
He ought not to attempt to influence how how a court treats testimony, as he has himself pointed out and been happy to claim against others.
Rather, he and his wife should stop trying to tamper with justice in these various ways and abide by the demands he has made of others not to interfere with legal proceedings.
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