WILL THE TRIAL REALLY START ON TUESDAY?
However, it is uncertain if the trial will proceed tomorrow as Najib has applied for a stay
THE first nine witnesses are all set to testify in the most anticipated criminal case in the country involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whose trial is scheduled to begin tomorrow.
The witnesses include government servants who have been served subpoenas to attend the trial.
All eyes will be on the trial as it not only marks the first time a former Malaysian leader is being dragged to court to answer criminal charges, but it has also been described as “the worst kleptocracy scandal ever”.
However, even as the prosecution team prepares to get on with the trial, it is uncertain if it will proceed as Najib has applied for a stay, which will be heard at the Court of Appeal this afternoon.
“Witness statements have been served on the defence and subpoenas have been served to witnesses,” Bernama reported, adding that the prosecution had complied with regulations under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code relating to the delivery of documents.
“We have on standby nine witnesses but it depends on how the trial goes on the day.
“We have prepared witness statements and after the witnesses read out their statements, the defence will cross-examine them,” it reported, quoting sources.
Najib, who was the sixth prime minister, has been slapped with dozens of charges relating to money laundering, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and corruption.
The court charges against Najib, 66, who was prime minister from April 2009 to May last year, has drawn worldwide attention and are mostly related to scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Both the Malaysian public and the international community have been transfixed by the scandal.
Najib has been charged six times with 42 counts of criminal charges.
The former Barisan Nasional chairman and former Umno president has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Najib, who is Pekan member of parliament, was first brought to the Sessions Court here on July 4 to face three counts of CBT and one count of abuse of power in connection with SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds totalling RM42 million.
The Kuala Lumpur Court Complex was packed with local and international media as they did not want to miss out on capturing photos of Najib and details of the case.
On Aug 8, he was charged again in the Sessions Court with three counts of money laundering involving the same amount of the same funds.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has fixed 33 days, from Feb 12 to 28 and March 4 to 29, for the trial of Najib’s seven charges involving SRC International’s funds.
Despite attempts by Najib’s defence team led by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to have the trial adjourned pending an appeal on the withdrawal of the certificate of transfer (to the High Court) by Najib, AttorneyGeneral Tommy Thomas, on Thursday, informed the judge that the prosecution was ready to commence the prosecution’s case tomorrow.
However, whether the trial will proceed would depend on Najib’s appeal to stay the trial.
Najib sought to stay the trial relating to his seven charges pending the outcome of the appellate court’s decision on his appeal relating to the withdrawal of the certificate of transfer by the public prosecutor.
Nazlan, on Thursday, allowed an application by Thomas to withdraw the certificate to transfer the seven charges against Najib from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
Thomas informed the court that the prosecution made the move due to the Federal Court’s decisions in the Semenyih Jaya (2017) and M. Indira Gandhi (2018) cases, which raised a doubt in respect of the exercise of the powers by the public prosecutor to transfer a case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
“I will withdraw the certificate I issued to avoid any possible argument that the transfer is a nullity,” Thomas said.
Najib subsequently filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal on Thursday in a bid to set aside the High Court ruling granting the public prosecutor’s request to withdraw the certificate of transfer.
However, it is learnt that the prosecution will today apply to transfer the three additional charges of money laundering faced by Najib on Friday, from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
“We will ask for the three additional charges to be jointly tried with the other three counts of money laundering, which were brought earlier in court on Aug 8, as they involve the same funds (of SRC International),” sources said.
On Friday, Najib pleaded not guilty to three counts of money laundering involving RM27 million of SRC International’s funds.
On Jan 28, Najib was slapped with the same charges in the High Court but on Thursday, Thomas withdrew the charges and asked for the accused to be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
Najib was then recharged with the same charges in the Sessions Court on Friday.
The prosecution brought the additional charges against Najib in the High Court under Section 91 of Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001.
The section, among others, means that an additional charge against an accused can be brought at any court (either High Court or Sessions Court).
The prosecution withdrew the three additional charges and recharged Najib in the Sessions Court based on procedural grounds.
The money laundering case originated from the Sessions Court and the prosecution should have mentioned the case at the Sessions Court before transferring it to the High Court.
However, under Section 91 of AMLATFPUAA, the prosecution can bring an additional charge against an accused in the High Court.
The prosecution has submitted more than 3,000 pages of documents, including minutes of meetings of SRC International, witness documents and other related documents, to the defence team in the course of the proceedings.
The prosecution will call 50 witnesses to testify during the trial.
As the case originated from the Sessions Court, the prosecution had applied to transfer the case to a higher court as the High Court has wider jurisdiction and if the case begins at the High Court, appeals could be heard until the Federal Court, and if there is any complex legal issue, it will be resolved at the Federal Court.
Senior lawyer Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah was appointed as senior deputy public prosecutor by the Attorney-General’s Chambers to lead the prosecution team in Najib’s SRC International cases and prominent criminal lawyer Datuk V. Sithambaram was appointed to assist the team.
DPP Datuk Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed and Muhammad Izzat Fauzan are in the team.
Shafee, who was appointed as lead prosecutor in the appeal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy II case in 2013, is leading the defence team and is being assisted by a team of lawyers, which includes Harvinderjit Singh and Muhammad Farhan Shafee.