“Justice must be seen to be served. This was also the lawyer who said openly to the media that it was 99.9 per cent sure that Anwar was the man in a sex video. This was also the same lawyer who said confidently that Razak Baginda was 100% innocent in Altantuya’s murder case”

By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has called on the High Court hearing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial to haul up lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over allegations that he conspired with the Najib administration to destroy the opposition leader’s image.

Opposition lawmakers told The Malaysian Insider that the court must find out if the prominent lawyer had met media chiefs along with staff from the Prime Minister’s Office to subvert media coverage of the high-profile trial.

“This raises doubt over the proceedings of the case and the court should call on Shafee to explain to ensure the credibility of the trial,” said PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar (picture).

This was echoed by Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, who said that as Shafee is frequently employed by and linked to backroom discussions with Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin Umno, he cannot be considered a neutral party.

“Justice must be seen to be served. This was also the lawyer who said openly to the media that it was 99.9 per cent sure that Anwar was the man in a sex video,” the Beruas MP said, referring to allegations earlier this year that the PKR de facto leader was the man recorded having sex with an unknown woman.

With Anwar’s ongoing sodomy trial winding to a close, the Permatang Pauh MP had given his statement from the dock, claiming that the accusation, which surfaced over three years ago, was a conspiracy by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to end his political career.

Muhammad Shafee has come under scrutiny online purportedly for interfering with the news coverage of the controversial court case by issuing instructions to mainstream media editors and reporters over their reporting of Anwar’s statement.

The alleged conspiracy was given more flavour by a blogger calling himself Ahmat Gaza who claimed that a clandestine meeting on August 23 at the swanky Le Meridien Hotel in the city here included one of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media advisers, Abdul Jalil Hamid.

But the lawyer scoffed at the allegations, stating that the meeting with various media such as Utusan Malaysia, TV3 and The Star was not a secret and he was there to talk about the law of contempt.

By Debra Chong, Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — As Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ongoing sodomy trial winds to a close, Malaysia’s best-paid lawyer has denied conspiring with staff in the Prime Minister’s Office to subvert the media and end the political career of the man once deemed the biggest threat to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

Prominent lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, frequently linked to the BN’s powerful lynchpin Umno, has come under fire online after Anwar’s unsworn statement of defence from the dock, purportedly for interfering with the news coverage of the controversial court case by issuing certain instructions to mainstream media editors and reporters.

The alleged conspiracy was given more flavour by a blogger calling himself Ahmat Gaza who claimed that a clandestine meeting at the swanky Le Meridien Hotel in the city here included one of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media advisers, Abdul Jalil Hamid.

Muhammad Shafee broke his earlier vow of silence yesterday to denounce the allegations against him as an attempt to plunge the country’s government institutions into chaos in order to enable a takeover of Putrajaya, but stopped short of attributing it to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, headed by Anwar.

“His agenda is to create as much distrust as possible, against the institutions of government including the judiciary, to create chaos against the rule of law,” Muhammad Shafee replied when asked the motive of the allegations against him, referring to the blogger Ahmat Gaza.

“This Gaza is an idiot who does not know the true nature of this meeting,” the pro-Umno lawyer said yesterday when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.

He scoffed at the allegations of a conspiracy to do harm to Anwar, and put it down to the imagination of the unknown blogger Ahmat Gaza, whom he warned he would sue for defamation once the latter’s real identity is revealed. The allegations have since gone viral and been replicated on other websites.

Muhammad Shafee admitted that he had met with several media workers at Le Meridien on August 23, saying it was “not a secret”.

“It was organised by Utusan… someone called Fatiman, to explain to the media what is contemptuous law,” he said, adding that there were between eight and 15 media representatives present that day from several mainstream news organisations and named the Umno-owned Malay-language daily, national private broadcaster TV3, English-language daily The Star, among them.

He said he doubted Ahmat Gaza was a whistleblower among those present at that meeting because it was not a secret meeting as claimed in the blog.

Asked if Abdul Jalil was also present at that meeting, Muhammad Shafee said: “If Jalil was there, I vaguely think he was there, I’m not surprised if Jalil was there because he was there as a media person.”

He said he knew of Jalil but was not on close terms with the PM’s aide, adding that he only was aware of the latter’s current position after being informed as such by The Malaysian Insider.

A former senior journalist with international news agency Reuters, Abdul Jalil declined comment when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.

Muhammad Shafee said he had also been approached by TV3 for a similar explanation after both media companies were hauled up in the Shah Alam court for contemptuous coverage of the murder of cosmetics tycoon Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya last month.

By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has called on the High Court hearing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial to haul up lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah over allegations that he conspired with the Najib administration to destroy the opposition leader’s image.

Opposition lawmakers told The Malaysian Insider that the court must find out if the prominent lawyer had met media chiefs along with staff from the Prime Minister’s Office to subvert media coverage of the high-profile trial.

“This raises doubt over the proceedings of the case and the court should call on Shafee to explain to ensure the credibility of the trial,” said PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar (picture).

This was echoed by Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, who said that as Shafee is frequently employed by and linked to backroom discussions with Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin Umno, he cannot be considered a neutral party.

“Justice must be seen to be served. This was also the lawyer who said openly to the media that it was 99.9 per cent sure that Anwar was the man in a sex video,” the Beruas MP said, referring to allegations earlier this year that the PKR de facto leader was the man recorded having sex with an unknown woman.

With Anwar’s ongoing sodomy trial winding to a close, the Permatang Pauh MP had given his statement from the dock, claiming that the accusation, which surfaced over three years ago, was a conspiracy by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to end his political career.

Muhammad Shafee has come under scrutiny online purportedly for interfering with the news coverage of the controversial court case by issuing instructions to mainstream media editors and reporters over their reporting of Anwar’s statement.

The alleged conspiracy was given more flavour by a blogger calling himself Ahmat Gaza who claimed that a clandestine meeting on August 23 at the swanky Le Meridien Hotel in the city here included one of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media advisers, Abdul Jalil Hamid.

But the lawyer scoffed at the allegations, stating that the meeting with various media such as Utusan Malaysia, TV3 and The Star was not a secret and he was there to talk about the law of contempt.