KUALA LUMPUR – Lawyers representing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Tanore trial have issued a letter requesting the government to take down the Man On The Run documentary from international streaming platform Netflix.
Law firm Shafee and Co cited that the airing of the documentary is in contempt of court and sub-judicial as the criminal case is being heard before high court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Najib’s counsels also claimed those featured in the programme made statements against the former prime minister that were defamatory, prejudiced, one-sided and were never proven in court.
The letter – sighted by Scoop – names former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, former US ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott, Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, former FBI officers Charles O’ Neal and David Smith, former Damansara MP Tony Pua, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Najib’s representation also urged the Communications Ministry and its agency, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), to take action against director Cassius Michael Kim and the production crew with provisions under Section 211 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
According to Section 211, no content applications service provider or other person using a content applications service, may provide content which is inappropriate, obscene, fake, threatening or offensive in the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person.
The letter was sent yesterday to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, MCMC chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din, and MCMC chief regulatory officer Datuk Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin.
It was also sent to Attorney-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex, and the deputy public prosecutor’s office at AG’s Chambers.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah claimed his client had been misled throughout his interview during the making of the contentious documentary, despite the director’s assertions that the former prime minister was well aware of his responses.
Kim then hit back, dismissing Shafee’s claims of disagreements among crew members about the documentary’s direction and that a crew member was fired.
Najib, who was interviewed for the documentary on April 3, 2022, appears in snippets after the first hour of the two-hour film. – January 12, 2024