Rafizi held 2 media conferences on 1MDB at Parliament lobby, court told

KiniTV Sdn Bhd (KiniTV) audio technician Mohamad Azfar Afendi Zulkfley said the two media conferences were held separately, at 11am on March 24 and at 12.15pm on March 28.

"On those dates, I happened to be in the vicinity to record the ongoing parliamentary sessions. When I received information that Yang Berhormat Rafizi would be holding a media conference, I immediately headed to the lobby and wait," he said.

Mohamad Azfar said this in the examination in-chief by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Zhafran Rahim Hamzah on the second day of Mohd Rafizi's trial for illegal possession and exposing official documents related to the audit report on 1MDB.

The second prosecution witness who has been working in KiniTV since 2012 said he recorded both the media conferences which lasted about 40 minutes each.

"After they ended, I returned to the office to hand over the videos and memory card to the producer for storage in the company's computer," he said.

Both videos of the media conferences were shown to the court but reporters covering the trial were restricted by the judge from divulging the contents which were still classified under the Official Secrets Act.

Mohd Rafizi, 39, who is also PKR vice president and secretary-general, is charged with illegal possession of page 98 of the Audit Report on 1MDB, an offence under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

He allegedly committed the offence at the Parliament Building lobby here at 3pm on March 24, under Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the Official Secrets Act 1972, which carries a jail term of up to seven years upon conviction.

Mohd Rafizi is accused on the second charge of leaking the contents of the audit report on 1MDB to the media at the same place and time on March 28, under Section 8(1)(c)(iv) of the same Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to seven years upon conviction.

Earlier before the trial started, DPP Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas applied for adjournment, informing the court that DPP Shukor Abu Bakar who was supposed to handle the case was involved in an accident while on the way to court.

"He is fine but all the documents including charge sheets and investigation papers are with him," he said.

Judge Zulqarnain said he sympathised with the prosecution's situation but ordered the case to continue today, "to save the court's time".