Najib still considering contempt action against Terrirudin despite AG's advice, says lawyer
by FARAH SOLHI
FORMER Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak's (picture) defence team is still considering filing a contempt application against former Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh over royal addendum issue, despite advice to the contrary from the current AG.
Najib's lead defence counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said this is in spite of a recent letter from current Attorney General Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar advising them to reconsider.
'The AG ( Mohd Dusuki) sent us a letter about three weeks ago, asking us to reconsider filing the contempt (against Terrirudin).
'We are taking the request seriously — we cannot simply ignore such a letter. However, we still believe we should proceed with the application. So, after considering the matter, we may file it within a week or two… we'll see,' he said during a press conference today.
In February, Muhammad Shafee announced at a separate press conference that Najib had instructed his team to file the contempt application against Terrirudin. This was over Terrirudin's alleged failure to enforce a royal addendum order, said to have been signed by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, allowing the former Pekan MP to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.
This followed the submission of the alleged royal letter during a Court of Appeal hearing, which subsequently ruled that the High Court should hear the matter, finding sufficient merit for it to be considered by the lower court.
Muhammad Shafee also revealed that his legal team had issued a show-cause letter to Terrirudin, who responded by denying any wrongdoing. Terrirudin maintained that he had no obligation to disclose the existence of the addendum at the time, as the case was still at the leave stage in the High Court.
Separately, Shafee confirmed today that former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa is expected to testify as a defence witness in Najib's ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.
'Ng is being brought to court so we can call him as a witness and question him in detail regarding what he knows about the real actors behind the 1MDB scandal.
'Perhaps he may even state that, to his knowledge, Najib was not involved,' Mohd Shafee said.
On April 17, Deputy Public Prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar informed the court that Ng would be brought to testify in the 1MDB proceedings.
Ng was convicted in March 2023 by a US federal court and sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in helping to embezzle funds from 1MDB. In October 2023, IGP Tan Sri Razarudin Husain confirmed that Ng had been repatriated to Malaysia to assist in ongoing 1MDB investigations.
Najib is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison, Selangor, after the Federal Court upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court's conviction for corruption involving RM42 million in funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
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