THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has removed a gag order on the media and public from discussing former prime minister Najib Razak’s graft case.

Justice Mohd Nazlan Ghazali ruled against lawyers representing Najib, who today argued commentary and media coverage would have a detrimental effect on the proceedings and the outcome of the trial.

Nazlan said their application to extend an interim gag order is “unsustainable”, calling it “unjustified” and “superfluous”, and said there are existing laws that deal with contempt and defamation to prevent sub judice.

He said the public and the media has the right to free speech under Article 10 of the federal constitution, albeit with restrictions designed to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence.

“For a criminal trial like the one before us, members of society have the right to view the proceedings to see whether the accused has a fair trial”, he read from a written judgement after a half-hour deliberation.

“The public has the right to information. There are of course, exceptions relating to public security and safety but these concern terrorism and sexual abuse of children.

Nazlan since said there have been no juries in criminal trials in Malaysia since 1995, it would be hard to prove that publications would undermine the judicial system.

Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said he would file an appeal on Monday.

The judge also said that Najib’s lawyers failed to show any risk of sub judice to the defendant.

“The evidence is mostly in the form personal opinion, nor has any action taken by the applicant against individuals for the alleged transactions.”

On July 4, high court judge Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak had approved Najib’s request for an interim gag order to stop discussions over the charges filed against the former prime minister. That order expired today.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria told the court that much of the commentary on the matter was already in the internet domain long before Najib was charged with multiple criminal charges for allegedly taking RM42 million out of SRC International.

He added that it would be impossible to enforce a gag order on news organisations based outside Malaysia.

He said such an order would in effect muzzle the local press, violating Article 10 of the federal constitution which guarantees freedom of speech.

“Even if it is political dynamite, it can be published freely,” Hanafiah said.

Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, meanwhile, argued that the court should not face any hurdles in issuing contempt orders should the gag order be lifted.

“The court should inform members of the public that they should not make any words or comments that infer that Najib is guilty.

“We are trying to convince your lordship to reinstate the sub judice rule because that that’s what’s going on.

“Tweets are going out by the second. We are trying to stop people from saying what shouldn’t be said in the first place.”

On July 4, Najib was charged with four counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power. He pleaded not guilty.

On Wednesday, Najib also claimed trial to three charges of money laundering in the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International into his bank account. – August 10, 2018.