Gag order only limited to statements about SRC International: AG Thomas

KUALA LUMPUR: The interim gag order in the case against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is only limited to statements pertaining to SRC International Sdn Bhd, said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.
During a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, he said the prosecution will challenge the gag-order on Aug 8, which the High Court has fixed for case management.
"We assure you (media) that you can report what you saw and heard in the courtroom. Only merits of SRC International and this case is under the interim gag order which is until August 8," he added.
However, he declined to comment further about the gag order and told the media that the questions should be directed to Najib's defence team as they were the one's who had applied for it.
"We are against it as we believe in the principles of freedom of speech. We were taken by surprise by their application," he added.
The AG accepted that the burden to prove the truth lay with the prosecution's team and concurred that Najib is innocent until proven guilty.
"We accept that he is innocent until proven guilty and the burden to prove that he is guilty is with us. We believe we have a strong prima facie case," he said.
Thomas added that there would be more charges under the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations, with more arrests to bring the perpetrators to justice.
When asked about Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah's statement that they would apply to recuse him from the case, Thomas quipped that his team would be waiting for it.
Meanwhile, when asked about the Bar Council's statement on Tuesday night claiming that the 1MDB's task force is not legally empowered to charge Najib, he agreed and said that only the AG has the powers to prosecute.
But he declined to comment on the questions the Bar posed about the instructions to arrest Najib.
"Arrests are done by the authorities like MACC and the police, in this case it was MACC. I will let them to comment about this and do not want to interfere."
Najib was arrested by the MACC (Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission) yesterday at 2.35pm at his house on Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, according to a statement by the 1MDB task force.
The task force is made up of former AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, former MACC chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, current MACC chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull and police Special Branch director Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador.