LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT TO STALL TRIAL FAILS
Najib’s defence team files motion to challenge the 7 charges he faces hours before trial
AFTER various stalled attempts, the corruption trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak finally got under way yesterday at the High Court here.
However, the trial, the first involving a former prime minister, was not without its drama when what appeared to be an 11th-hour attempt by the defence to stall the trial did not succeed.
Hours before the trial was set to begin at 2pm, Najib’s defence filed a motion to challenge the seven charges he faced. The charges centred on abuse of power and money laundering involving
RM42 million of SRC International Ltd funds.
The attempt by Najib’s defence team to stall the trial by filing the motion did not succeed when High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled that he would hear the matter at a later date.
“There is no requirement for the motion to be heard now since it was only filed in the morning (Wednesday),” the judge said.
At the beginning of proceedings, which began at 2.10pm, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas informed the court of the filing of the motion by Najib’s lawyers to declare the charges defective.
Tommy noted that if the defence was saying that there was something wrong with the charges, it had ample time to raise it, not on the morning before the trial starts.
“This is intended to delay the trial yet again and it should not be countenanced by the court. This application should wait for its turn to be heard, but not today, thank you,” Tommy said.
Defence co-counsel Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden told the court that the motion was filed on grounds that Najib’s criminal breach of trust charges were defective as they did not specifically mention the offence element.
He said the charges were redundant with Najib’s other charges, while on the money-laundering and abuse of position charges, he said Najib should not have been charged with them from the beginning.
“He (Najib) is open to file the motion to protect his interest. He has the right. The motion should be heard first as the trial will become a nullity if the court rules in favour of the defence and amends the charges.”
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram said if the defence was saying that the charges were bad, the prosecution would run that risk.
“The move is merely to delay the trial as they have put in their application, stayed, struck off or postponed. The 11th-hour motion was not even fixed for hearing today (yesterday).”
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is Najib’s lead counsel, had earlier applied for the court to hear the matter before the trial started, adding that he had filed a certificate of urgency to expedite the hearing of the motion.
Nazlan, after hearing from both parties, said the trial would proceed since it would not affect the case or cause prejudice to Najib.
Tommy took 15 minutes to deliver the prosecution’s 11-page opening speech, in which he laid out the seven charges faced by Najib and their details.
He said the prosecution would prove that Najib, during his entire period in office as prime minister and finance minister, had abused his position and office to receive gratification. He said the prosecution would also prove that Najib had wrongfully gained RM42 million from SRC International, causing the company to suffer losses.
The prosecution then called its first witness, assistant registrar Muhamad Akmaludin Abdullah, 35, from the Companies Commission of Malaysia, to the stand.
He testified that SRC International was set up with a paid capital of RM1 million when it registered with the commission in 2011.
Najib, dressed in a navy blue suit, had arrived at the Kuala Lumpur High Court at 1.50pm, accompanied by his youngest son, Norashman. His arrival was greeted by a horde of photographers, both local and foreign, who had camped out at the courthouse since morning to cover the historic event.
Inside the court, hundreds of pressmen had earlier swamped registration counters to secure access to the courtroom, as well as the live video-feed room, where the trial would be screened.
On July 4 last year, the 66-yearold Pekan member of parliament was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one charge of abusing his position over SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.
On Aug 8 last year, he was charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same amount of money.
The trial continues on April 15.