Shafee allowed temporary use of passport to meet QC in Australia

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today allowed an application by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah for temporary access to his passport for travel to Australia for a meeting with a Queen’s Counsel from the UK.

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin allowed the release of Shafee's passport from Sept 6 to 12 after deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz did not object to the application.

Shafee earlier told the court that there were some corrections in the supporting affidavit in his application for the passport, which had been submitted to the court as a bail condition.

"In the affidavit, I only stated that I’ll meet the Queen's Counsel, Geoffrey Robertson, in Melbourne. I ask Your Honour for permission to amend it by adding Sydney as the location of the meeting.

"This is because Robertson has a house in Melbourne, but he operates from his brother’s firm at Martin Place, Sydney, so I may have to go to both places," he said.
 
His lawyer, Wee Yeong Kang, then requested the court to allow his client access to his passport for travel from Sept 6 to 12, and for it to be returned to the court on Sept 14.

Shafee, who was the lead counsel in former prime minister Najib Razak's cases relating to SRC International and 1MDB, was previously allowed to travel abroad on several occasions after he was charged in court.

The 70-year-old lawyer surrendered his passport to the court in September 2018 after he was charged with two counts of receiving money amounting to RM9.5 million, allegedly from illegal activities, through two cheques issued by Najib and deposited into his CIMB Bank account.

Shafee also faces two charges of engaging in transactions resulting from illegal activities, namely submitting incorrect tax returns in violation of Paragraph 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the financial years ending Dec 31, 2013, and Dec 31, 2014.

On May 12, the prosecution closed its case after calling eight witnesses. Oral submissions have been fixed for Sept 15 before judge Jamil.