Kamal Hisham Jaafar is requesting that the Johor ruler assist in a case where he has been charged with criminal breach of trust and other charges under the Companies Act 1965.

His lawyer, Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, filed the subpoena request this morning, Malaysiakini reported.

The petition provides 31 undisclosed reasons as to why the sultan should be called as a witness, the news portal said.

“The judge did not make any ruling as the filing has just been made,” said Khairul.

The case against Kamal Hisham, who once served the sultan, began yesterday.

Kamal Hisham is also trying to shift the trial to Kuala Lumpur, where the former lawyer believes he would be accorded a fair hearing.

He had previously claimed he could no longer live safely in Johor, the portal said.