Court orders Najib, three others to file defence over suit for overspending in GE2013

KUALA LUMPUR — The High Court has ordered the prime minister and three others to file their defence in response to a suit by the opposition for allegedly overspending in their 13th general election campaign.

Lawyer Choo Shi Jiu, who appeared together with Mohd Hafarizam Harun to represent Najib Razak, said their client must file his defence by Oct 1.

“The deputy registrar (Norfauzani Mohd Nordin) has also given instructions that the defendants were also at liberty to file other interlocutory applications by Oct 9,” he told reporters after a case management.

He said the next case management would be before judicial commissioner Mohd Zaki Wahab on Oct 9.

Others named as defendants are Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the Election Commission.

Tengku Adnan has been given until September 15; 1MDB, September 14; and the EC until September 14 to file their defence.

On Aug 12, PKR filed the suit against Najib for violating election laws following The Wall Street Journal’s report of US$700 million (S$992 million) found in the prime minister’s personal accounts.

On Aug 3, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in an unsigned statement said the cash was merely a donation.

The plaintiffs in the suit are de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a jail sentence for a sodomy conviction, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, Batu MP Tian Chua, former PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and New Hope Movement (GHB) member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.

Nurul Izzah said that the facts of the case exposed corruption and various corrupt tactics used by BN to win the 13th general election.

“It is obvious that the RM2.6 billion used is more than 26 times the allowed amount as outlined by Malaysian laws,” Nurul Izzah told a press conference on Aug 12.

She said Section 19 of the Election Offences Act limits electoral spending to RM100,000 and RM200,000 for a state and parliamentary candidate respectively. Nurul Izzah said the EC had openly ignored the corruption. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER