Ex-prime minister Najib’s trial set for 33 days, beginning Feb 12 next year

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set 33 days from Feb 12 next year for the trial of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who faces seven charges involving RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali yesterday set Feb 12 to 28 and March 4 to 29 for the trial after dismissing Najib’s application for a gag order prohibiting the media from discussing the merits of the criminal charges that he was facing.

The court also set Oct 4 for case management.

Earlier, Attorney- General’s Chambers Appellate and Trial Division head Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria told the court that the prosecution was fully ready to begin the trial in November.

“This is in line with Section 172B(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code which provides for the trial of a criminal case to be held within 90 days after the accused was prosecuted,” he said.

Mohamad Hanafiah also informed the court that the prosecution would call 50 witnesses.

Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, however, objected for the trial to begin in November.

“We need time to study all the documents and I will accept any dates if the trial is held in February and March. I don’t know why they (the prosecution) were so desperate,” he said.

He also said that the provision under Section 172B(4), which states the trial should commence within 90 days after the accused is charged, was not mandatory, but just a guideline.

“In Lim Guan Eng’s case, he was charged in June 2016 and the trial started almost two years later in 2018. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s first sodomy case was in 1998 and the trial began in 1999, while (for) the second sodomy (case) he was charged in August 2008 and trial commenced in February 2010,” said Muhammad Shafee, who had persuaded the court several times to set the trial dates in February and March next year, which was tentatively fixed during the last proceedings. — Bernama