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THE legal team representing Datuk Seri Najib Razak today applied to delete a large portion of Tony Pua's witness statement presented at the trial of the US$5.6 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) lawsuit against seven parties, including the former Prime Minister.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, while objecting to the statement, argued that some of it should not be admitted as evidence because it was hearsay and based on political views.
Pua, who was a member of the Public Accounts Commission (PAC), should have been called as the plaintiff's (1MDB) second witness at the trial held at the High Court.
Earlier, Muhammad Shafee argued that the statement contained his personal opinions and media reports that were not admissible as evidence in court.
"The defendant did not object to it if it touched on Pua's direct involvement in the PAC or Parliament session, but he made a statement sourced from a third party," he said.
According to him, the former DAP representative cited media reports to support his testimony regarding the events that occurred and their connection to the political climate when the 1MDB case investigation was in full swing.
Muhammad Shafee further argued that Pua also gave his opinion in several paragraphs touching on the removal of former Attorney General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, even though it was given without knowing the real reason for the change.
The lawyer said Pua even quoted statements from several other parties who were not in court, which did not allow them to be cross-examined in the suit proceedings.
"Pua should have relied on Parliament's Hansard and the PAC report, not personal interpretations to support his testimony in court," he said.
Meanwhile, 1MDB's lawyer Lee Shih said they needed time to prepare their submissions to respond to the initial objections.
Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus then set the trial to continue tomorrow. – August 5, 2026
