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22 April 2019
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11am – Hearing resumes after a short break with the prosecution calling in their ninth witness, Umno Padang Serai division chief Asmadi Abu Talib, who is also a former teacher.
Asmadi testifies that he first became the division chief in 2013, and had received a RM50,000 cheque from Najib when he met the then Umno president in 2014.
The witness said he met Najib at Umno’s office in Putra World Trade Centre.
Asmadi said he spoke with Najib about his experience of being a division chief for the first time, and discussed constraints in conducting party programmes for his division, including financial issues.
“Datuk Seri Najib then gave some advice to lift up my spirits, and then he handed over some contributions to assist my division to execute party plans,” he told the court during examination by DPP Muhammad Saifuddin.
Asmadi said the cheque was made payable to him, and was later deposited into his Maybank account before being used to organise programmes for non-government organisations and associations.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/473156
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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today warned the defence and prosecution teams in Najib Razak’s SRC International trial against circulating court recording and transcription (CRT) videos on social media.
Judge Nazlan Ghazali made the order after fiat prosecutor V Sithambaran said a video on the trial had been uploaded to Facebook last week.
“No form of recording should be uploaded online, including the CRT video,” he said, adding that the police are investigating the matter.
“I would like to remind everyone not to make comments or analysis that may be prejudicial to the trial.”
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Judge declines to rule on CRT
10am – Nazlan says that the court will not rule on whether the uploading of the CRT from Friday’s proceedings constitutes contempt of court, as the matter is now the subject of a police investigation.
However, he reminds both the prosecution and the defence that as officers of the court, they must abide by their undertaking when handling the CRT.
The judge tells them that the CRT recording is only meant to assist both sides in the transcription of proceedings, and not for use in an unauthorised manner, such as being uploaded onto social media.
“Any transgression may result in the court no longer providing the CRT (to both parties).
“At the same time, everyone is reminded not to make prejudicial comments on the ongoing trial, including analysis of evidence and witnesses, that may prejudge the issue for determination before the court, which may constitute contempt of court.
“It is important that the matter does not detract the court from hearing the trial,” Nazlan rules.
Disseminating CRT would prevent biased reporting – Shafee
9.45am – Shafee (below) says the dissemination of recordings of court proceedings is normal practice in the United Kingdom, and that copies of these videos can be accessed in the national archives.
Sithambaram stands firm, however, and insists that spreading the CRT is wrong and affects the court’s integrity.
Shafee replies by saying that the CRT should be made public to avoid biased reporting.
‘Why is uploading CRT wrong when the media reports on trial?’
9.30am – Harvinderjit backs his co-counsel Shafee, asking why uploading of CRT recordings are wrong when the media gives the public minute-by-minute updates of the trial.
“What is the difference between media recording (reporting) this minute-by-minute, and the recording of the video (of Friday’s proceedings)?
“The video is not the entire video (of the day’s proceedings), but excerpts from the cross-examination of the two witnesses,” he argues.
Prosecution asks for court order on trial videos
9.20am – Day six of the trial begins, with DPP Sithambaram raising the matter of the court recording transcript (CRT) videos that were uploaded onto social media last week.
The prosecution asks for court direction on the leak, with Sithambaram (below) pointing out that CRT footage can only be obtained by signing an undertaking not to forward the copy to other parties, nor upload it onto any medium.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/473156
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Meanwhile in Malaysia, the second week of former PM Najib Razak’s #1MDB-linked trial begins for seven graft-related charges. Seven witnesses took the stand last week. https://t.co/9PiC4ewS2F
https://twitter.com/sumishanaidu/status/1120143004235370496?s=19
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Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC trial resumes today. Prosecutors raised issues of the leaked CRT video of the proceedings #SRCtrial
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weehingthong 