WSJ action: Najib seeks second legal opinion

His lawyer Datuk Mohamad Hafarizam Harun told reporters that the Prime Minister, at their meeting yesterday, asked him to do this as soon as possible.

"In light of the revelation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that the money (reported to have been put in Najib's accounts) is not from 1MDB and The WSJ's letter, dated July 23, which studiously avoided stating a stand on the articles (published) on July 2 and 6, my client instructed me to seek a second legal opinion either locally or overseas," he said outside a courtroom.

He said the legal experts that he was looking might be from among Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom or reputable attorneys in the United States.

Mohamad Hafarizam said his client had six years to file a civil case against The WSJ in Malaysia, but he was also looking at other forms of legal action. He did not elaborate.

On the jurisdiction of the suit, he said it could be filed here or in New York.

"We have cases where former prime minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew filed a suit against The WSJ in Singapore in 1998 and Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir filed a suit against The WSJ here, also in the late 1990s," he said.

On July 8, Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak sent a letter to Dow Jones seeking clarification on its stand on the allegations that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB funds had been deposited into Najib's personal bank accounts, in the articles published on July 2 and 6.