KUALA LUMPUR – The director of Netflix documentary Man on the Run, Cassius Michael Kim, has refuted Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s assertions that the former prime minister was misled throughout his interview in the programme.
Kim insisted that the allegations were not possible because Najib was accompanied by other individuals throughout the interview process.
The director said that both lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee and aide Ahmad Lutfi Azhar were in the room during the session where the trio took occasional breaks to discuss the answers.
Kim also said that the production team, named The Smoking Section, had never misrepresented its intentions, and had been clear about its objectives when it approached Najib for the interview.
“We planned to tell a comprehensive story of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal for an international audience who mostly are unfamiliar with it,” he told Scoop via an email response yesterday.
“While the story would begin with Jho Low (Low Taek Jho) and the creation of the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, and (then) delve into Low’s subsequent disappearance, we were very clear that this story could not be told without Najib’s perspective about his role in the affair. Which is why we believed it so important to have his voice included.”
On Monday, Najib’s lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the media that Najib was misled into agreeing to the interview, clips of which were included in the documentary.
To this, Kim said Najib sounded “very similar” to the occasions in the interview when he repeatedly stated that everyone around him in the government had misled him during the 1MDB saga.
To this, Kim suggested that Najib made himself out to be an “unknowing puppet”.
The director then detailed his experience in getting Najib to sit for the said interview, which was featured in snippets in the documentary that the former prime minister wanted taken down from Netflix.
He said that many conversations were exchanged between the production crew and Najib’s team before the interview took place on April 3, 2022.
This also includes following Najib’s footsteps by the documentary’s cinematographer Joe Simon. The process included Najib’s 2022 campaigning for Barisan Nasional in Penang, as well as car rides with him to court for one of his corruption cases.
“It was easy to see why he was such a successful politician for so long. The cheering crowds clearly adored him,” Kim said.
“It was impossible for our team to not think of our own country and our own disgraced former leader, and the people who embrace him despite his malfeasance.”
However, he said, it was not all smooth sailing leading up to the interview, as Najib’s team had attempted to seek Kim’s questions ahead of the interview.
“This was a request made by his team at the last minute, which created a major point of conflict on the eve of the interview. I was told by his team that the previous interviewer had provided the questions in advance,” Kim said.
“However, I made it clear that this was not possible and at a point, it is not up for negotiation. I would be willing to provide broader topics that we would discuss. However, journalistic ethics forbade me from supplying questions in advance. Ultimately, they agreed to my terms.”
Throughout the hours-long interview, Cassius said that Najib, Farhan and Lutfi would retire to a private conference room every 30 to 45 minutes, where they would discuss the questions raised before returning with additional comments on previously discussed topics.
However, Kim described the interview atmosphere as “cordial” and that Najib was a “gentleman”.
“He had even agreed to let them film additional footage with him after the interview in other parts of his office.”
However, the director said that no word of complaint had been said to the team since the documentary aired to the public.
He also said that Najib, either directly or through his team, had never followed up about the documentary.
Man on the Run narrates the story of the 1MDB scandal, which involves Jho Low and his alleged scheme of embezzling funds from the wealth fund to finance his extravagant lifestyle.
Najib, who was interviewed for the documentary on April 3, 2022, appeared in snippets after the first hour of the two-hour film.
At the beginning of the interview, Najib reminds the team questioning him that he will stop the interview at any point, especially if it approaches the boundaries of sub judice and contempt of court, as the case is still ongoing in court.
The documentary was initially screened in cinemas nationwide in October of last year and later became available on Netflix starting January 5 of this year. – January 10, 2024