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Ex-PM Najib in favour of 'live' broadcast of his trial

This article is more than 12 months old

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said yesterday that he "will support" a live telecast of his trial.

He will be in court on Wednesday to face seven charges over the abuse of RM42 million (S$14 million) in SRC International between August 2011 and March 2015 when he was prime minister.

"I will support the live broadcast because it will help transparency and ensure the 'Rule of Law' is followed. The rakyat have the right to know the truth," he wrote on his Facebook page today.

An online petition to Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo to air Mr Najib's trial live was started nine months ago by one Mr Karim Yasin and has drawn over 40,000 supporters to date, reported the Malay Mail.

Mr Karim listed various arguments for telecasting the trial live, including public interest in the case and transparency.

He felt it could help prevent dissemination of "fake news" by Mr Najib's "supporters and goons" and also be a revenue source that could be channelled to help the Pakatan Harapan government pay off the country's debts, the Mail reported.

In response to Mr Najib's comments, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said yesterday that it was entirely up to the courts to decide whether to broadcast the high-profile trial.

CIRCUS

She said: "This is under the court's jurisdiction, so we will let them decide. Although we feel the rakyat should know the proceedings of the trial, we do not want to make it a circus."

On the growing calls to make public the 100-day report of the Council of Eminent Persons, she said the Cabinet would be making a decision.

"All the sensitive issues and information, we will have to take that into consideration," she said.

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