“We are seriously contemplating contempt proceedings against Latheefa for breaching the sub-judice rule,” Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters after the end of today’s SRC trial.
He said that releasing the recordings and discussing the issues in public are in fact sub-judice and in contempt.
Shafee, who is appearing for Najib in both cases, said that being a former lawyer, Latheefa should know her press conference earlier today bordered on contempt.
He claimed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, which investigated both cases, was attempting to influence the ongoing trials.
“These (recordings) are things that will make Najib less credible to the public and the court may think he must be guilty,” he said.
The anti-graft body today released nine audio clips, one of which purportedly featured Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor, ex-MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad as well as the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Zayed Al Nahyan.
The senior lawyer said Latheefa’s press conference was also a potential breach of the Official Secrets Act.
Shafee said Latheefa had jumped the gun by making public an investigation that was supposed to be conducted by the police.
“They (MACC or police) will not release such details to the public as the investigation itself is confidential,” he said, adding that Latheefa had breached that rule when she knew her agency was not going to probe the matter.
“She has literally pre-empted and emptied the investigation file of the police who are about to investigate,” he added.
Shafee said he also found it puzzling for Latheefa to reveal the contents of the recordings to the public first and not even to the incumbent prime minister on national security matters.
“Since when do you reveal national security matters to the public? By nature of its definition, it is a secret confined to government agencies,” he said.
Shafee also questioned Latheefa’s motive, especially since she is a former politician in PKR.
“Maybe old habits die hard. She remains a politician today,” Shafee said, adding that she had a penchant to bring up issues when by-elections were held.