KUALA LUMPUR: Admitting Datuk Seri Najib Razak's recorded private phone conversation as evidence in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) trial would infringe his rights to a fair trial, said Najib's lead defence counsel today.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, in submitting his rebuttal against the application filed by lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram last week, said that admitting the audio recording, which contains Najib's conversation with a Saudi monarch, would violate his rights to privacy.
In an hour-long submission today, Shafee cited numerous precedents in noting that the judiciary had previously recognised that tape recording was susceptible to being tampered with, in supporting his points that the audio recording may have been illegally obtained.
"There is no proof of how the audio was made, and Section 43 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act had outlined the procedures to adhere to, in order to obtain audio recordings.
"The question that comes with this audio tape admission is whether MACC can simply tap into someone's conversations, without obeying their law, which is Section 43 of the MACC Act.
"These (precedent) cases proved strict adherence to the law that must be complied with as to not infringe on the accused's right to a fair trial," he said.
He also submitted that the cluster of rights encompassing a fair trial also encompasses a person's rights to be afforded the opportunity to raise an objection, in relation to the admissibility of documentary evidence under Section 41(a) of the MACC Act.
The prosecution, last week, had admitted an audio recording between Najib and a Saudi monarch, to rebut the accused's defence that the RM2.3 billion received were donations.
Sri Ram had argued that the audio recording is highly relevant to refute Najib's defence and that it would be submitted under Section 41(a) of the MACC Act.
He argued that the audio is admissible as evidence even if it was obtained illegally or irregularly.
Section 41(A) of the MACC Act states that any document or a copy of any document obtained by the MACC under this Act shall be admissible in evidence in any proceedings under this Act, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other written law.
Najib, 69, is facing four charges of using his position to get bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering.
The trial before High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.