After disastrous outing in Sg Bakap, Rafizi panned for implicating lawyer in Israeli's firearms case

The defence lawyer for an Israeli-French man facing firearms charges has reprimanded PKR's Rafizi Ramli for attempting to question his legal duties during the just concluded Sungai Bakap by-election, saying the economy minister could be prosecuted for contempt of court.

Naran Singh Asa Singh, the Gerakan lawyer who stood as a Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate in Perak in 2022, said Rafizi was ignorant of his legal duties and therefore tried to score political points .

"By mentioning about my client, it is sub judice because the case is in court. How can he say that (the defendant) killed people? He can be cited for contempt of court," Naran told MalaysiaNow.

Naran is the lawyer for Shalom Avitan, who had entered Malaysia on a French passport before he was arrested for posession of firearms.

Police also detained more than a dozen people linked to Avitan, including three foreigners who were subsequently deported.

Avitan is currently awaiting trial for firearms trafficking and illegal possession of ammunitions, which will begin on Sept 30.

Rafizi, in a bid to counter widespread criticism against the government over its decision to sell shares in an airport consortium to a company owned by Israeli-linked fund manager BlackRock, mentioned Naran's legal role during one of his campaign speeches in Sungai Bakap.

"Who is the lawyer of an Israeli citizen charged with attempted murder with a pistol? His name is Datuk Naran Singh.

"The lawyer of the Israeli who came with guns to cause trouble in Malaysia is not from PKR, not from Umno, not from DAP, but from PN," said Rafizi.

Naran said his client was charged with possession of firearms and not murder as Rafizi had claimed, adding that the PKR leader was ignorant of the facts of the case and obviously did not know the rights of an accused person.

"He does not understand that an accused has the basic right to appoint a lawyer and that he is innocent until proven guilty.

"How can you be the minister for economy? This is why our country's economy is going downhill every day," he said, adding that Rafizi and his party boss Anwar Ibrahim were also represented by lawyers who have handled other criminal cases.

Naran also denied Rafizi's claim that he was the PN candidate's legal adviser in Sungai Bakap.

He said he went to Sungai Bakap to support Abidin Ismail, the PN candidate from PAS who won yesterday by a large majority against the PKR candidate.

Naran said Rafizi, who led PH's disastrous election campaign in Sungai Bakap, should focus on his duties as economy minister.

"Why did he go there? He should not have opened his mouth."