Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah speaks during a press conference before leaving the KL High Court, July 4, 2018. ― Picture by Mukhriz Hazim

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — A temporary gag order on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s two criminal cases in court today applies to the former prime minister as well, as it is aimed at ensuring a fair trial and avoiding prejudging, his lawyer said today.

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the gag order is to “ensure nobody makes unfair comments about the merits of the case in order to get it published by media”.

“The gag order is basically for media not to print.

“Doesn’t matter who spoke about it, it can be the chairman of MACC, it can be the commissioner of MACC, could be the minister of finance.

“It could be Datuk Seri Najib himself, if he keeps on saying he’s innocent because of this, because of that. He too is prohibited, so that let the court decide,” he told reporters here.

When asked what the consequences of a breach of the gag order would be, Shafee said: “It’ll be a contempt of court.”

Shafee said the media gag order covers all traditional media, online media and social media.

But he said news organisations would not be barred from reporting “clinically” on Najib’s cases.

He explained that the gag order is only against unfair comments made even before the trial has started and before the court has decided on his client’s cases.

Shafee said examples of unfair comments that would be barred include comments that Najib is guilty or innocent without a trial or that Najib is someone who pretends to not have money, noting that these remarks would be prejudicial to a fair trial.

“One of the fundamentals of fair trial is that you cannot discuss... public cannot issue statements that comment on the merits of the case in a prejudicial fashion.

“But if you are reporting a court proceeding, for instance, when the trial starts, if you are going to report what transpired very clinically, there’s nothing wrong, because you are not commenting on merits,” he said.

The interim gag order expires on August 8 when Najib’s CBT and corruption cases are scheduled to return to the High Court for management.

The High Court had tentatively set trial to start from February 18 next year.

Shafee said the defence team will argue for a gag order in full at the next court date on August 8.

Earlier, Attorney General Tommy Thomas told reporters that the prosecution objects to the gag order and will apply for it to be set aside.