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PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal set January 25 to hear the request of lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to include additional evidence from a former attorney general (AG) in his attempt to recuse Gopal Sri Ram from leading the prosecution team in his judgment.
The lead attorney faces laundering charges of RM9.5 million allegedly received from former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2013 and 2014.
Deputy Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul said the date was agreed upon after handling the case before Under Secretary Darmafikri Abu Adam.
Attorney Sarah Abishegam represented Shafee.
Afzainizam said the hearing date for Shafee’s appeal against a 2019 Superior Court ruling had not yet been set, as the appeal records and evidence need to be rectified.
“The deputy registrar had arranged another case management on January 14. Hopefully, the matter would be resolved by then, ”he told FMT.
Aside from the disclosure made by former Attorney General Mohamad Apandi Ali, Shafee is also attempting to present Sri Ram’s appointment letter as ad-hoc prosecutor, as well as affidavits from former Attorney General Tommy Thomas, head of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Malaysia (MACC). commissioner Azam Baki and Sri Ram in a judicial review proceeding.
Apandi’s revelation is related to a conversation between him and Sri Ram that took place at Apandi’s home in January 2018.
Shafee said additional evidence was not available when the High Court in 2019 dismissed his request to disqualify Sri Ram, a former judge.
On April 23, 2019, Superior Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that he could find no merit to suggest that Sri Ram was in conflict of interest or that he would be biased against Shafee.
In September 2018, Shafee sought trial on two counts of money laundering and two counts of making false statements involving RM9.5 million received from Najib.
The money laundering trial before Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin had been set between May and August this year.
