S N Nair said the deputy prime minister’s remarks were out of place as the matter was sub-judice because Clare’s potential witness, Ambiga Sreenevasan, had yet to give evidence in court.
“It is bullying of a potential witness,” Nair said in response to Zahid’s statement yesterday that Ambiga must be bold and accept responsibility for providing information to Clare for alleging PAS leaders had received money from Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Zahid said Ambiga, the former Malaysian Bar president, could not “throw a stone and hide her hand” on the matter by avoiding the media.
Nair said it was understandable if ordinary citizens commented in the social media on a case that was pending, but certainly not from a senior government leader who was also home minister.
“As leader of the present administration, he should have refrained from making comments as this has added to the perception that he is supporting PAS,” said Nair.
The lawyer said it was an unbecoming comment from the number two in the government as it showed absolutely no regard for, and was contemptuous of, the judicial proceedings before a British court.
Nair said Ambiga had an option to obtain an injunction here to restrain anyone from making unsavoury comments while Clare could also opt to get an order for intimidating her witness.
The attack on Ambiga began Tuesday following reports that she was the source of information to Clare’s counterclaim that PAS leaders had received money from Najib.
In April Hadi filed a defamation suit against Clare and in response the Sarawak Report editor reacted with a defence and counterclaim made last month.
On Aug 6 last year, the whistleblower website claimed RM90 million was “reckoned” to have entered the accounts of top PAS leaders to woo them into supporting Umno and Barisan Nasional.
Clare said she and Ambiga spoke about Najib, 1MDB and PAS in July 2016.
“Ambiga had told the defendant(Clare) that her sources, whom she said were reliable, had estimated the amount that had been paid was around RM90 million,” Clare said in her affidavit dated Oct 11.
Ambiga in a statement yesterday said she had faced “a barrage of attacks” from ministers, political party members and others aligned with Hadi, over the last few days.
“In my view, these are targeted attacks of intimidation and harassment against me,” she had said.
Nair said, as expected, Hadi had “opened a can of worms” by suing Clare.
“Also by the various haranguing of Ambiga, PAS leaders may be doing a major disservice to Hadi’s case too,” he said in reference to several MPs from the Islamist party who had demanded an apology from Ambiga.
Meanwhile, Clare said she would not divulge her next move in response to government leaders and supporters of Hadi badgering and harassing Ambiga.
“Well, I am naturally not commenting on what we are doing on the case…,” she told FMT via e-mail, regarding attempts to intimidate Ambiga here.