PUTRAJAYA: Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has succeeded in his application to reclaim his passport.
The Court of Appeal allowed him to get hold of the document immediately, but he was ordered to return it on July 3.
A three-man bench ruled that there was no evidence to show that the prominent lawyer was a flight risk and there was a need for him to be in Australia for work.
The judges ruled that the accused in a drug case in Australia, who had hired Shafee, had a right to a counsel of his choice and therefore the lawyer should be allowed to fly there and meet his client.
“There are merits to his application.
“His passport should be released as soon as possible and it must be given back on July 3,” justice Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi said.
He said it was a unanimous decision of the bench. The other two judges who sat with him were Datuk Zabidin Mohd Diah and Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.
Earlier, Shafee’s counsel Harvinderjit Singh had argued that there was no reason for the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to oppose his client’s application to fly to Australia for work.
He said Shafee had been granted permission to fly to Tawau, Sabah, and also to Australia on two previous occasions to meet the same client.
He said Shafee had returned to Malaysia and had shown no tendency of being a flight risk.
“He has got three wives, a successful legal practice, and his roots are all here. There is no reason for him not to come back,” he said.
Harvinderjit said even the prosecution had admitted that Shafee was not a flight risk, but was just facing charges in a high profile case, besides the lawyer representing another high profile client, namely Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Shafee is facing two counts of money-laundering relating to a RM9.5 million payment he received from Najib.
He was also charged under the Income Tax Act with two counts of making false declarations to the Inland Revenue Board for not including the RM9.5 million in his tax filing for that year.
On the first and second counts, Shafee was alleged to have involved himself in money-laundering activities by receiving proceeds of unlawful activities via two cheques belonging to Najib totalling RM4.3 million and RM5.2 million respectively, on Sept 13, 2013 and Feb 17, 2014.
Shafee was also charged under the Income Tax Act with two counts of making false declarations to the Inland Revenue Board for not including the RM9.5 million in his tax filing for the year.
He was accused of committing the offences at the CIMB Bank Bhd in Taman Bukit Tunku.
On the third and fourth counts, Shafee was alleged to have committed acts contrary to Section 113 (1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 by omitting the income he received in Sept 13, 2013 totalling RM4.3 million; and on Feb 17, 2014 totalling RM5.2 million.
He was accused of committing the offences at Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, Duta branch, Government Complex, at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim on March 3, 2015 and June 29, 2015.
All four charges were made under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
The Umno lawyer pleaded not guilty to all four charges on Sept 13, last year. He was released on a RM1 million bail and his passport was also impounded.
In May, he failed to regain his passport to attend the drug case involving his client in Australia although he was allowed to do so on two previous occasions.
High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah had then dismissed his application, stating that Shafee’s presence was merely to assist the appointed counsel there.
“The applicant’s presence at the detention facility in Long Bay is for the purpose of assisting in translation from the Malay language, which he can also do by sending a representative.
“The possibility of a risk of flight cannot be discounted due to the nature and seriousness of the charges he is facing,” Collin had ruled then.
Deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz had, among other points, used the High Court judgment in fighting their case to oppose Shafee’s application today.