KUALA LUMPUR: The trial dates of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is facing four charges of having used his positions to obtain gratification totalling RM2.3 billion in 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same money, will be finalised tomorrow.
This is subject to whether the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial could be settled tomorrow or otherwise. High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed tomorrow at 4.30pm for both parties (prosecution and defence) to update him on the status of SRC’s trial.
However, the judge has intended the 1MDB trial to commence next Tuesday (Aug 27) subject to development of the SRC case.
Earlier, former Federal Court Judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram who was appointed as senior deputy public prosecutor suggested that the 1MDB trial to begin on Tuesday (Aug 27) as there will be a judicial review on civil case to disqualify him as lead prosecutor in the 1MDB case on Monday at Court of Appeal.
“The prosecution is ready to call witnesses to testify on Tuesday without their witness statement,” he said. Meanwhile, Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the appeal on the judicial review would take at least half a day and he also suggested that the 1MDB trial to start on Sept 3 as the defence has a week to study 15 volumes or 732 documents from the prosecution. “We can’t concentrate on 1MDB case while the SRC is still going on,” he said.
Muhammad Shafee said according to the witness statement of 1MDB’s former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, he mentioned that the prosecution asked questions about emails and BlackBerry messages conversations. “So, the defence is requesting the prosecution to provide documents in relation to that matter,” he said.
The lawyer said there was a report from the foreign media that Xavier Andre Justo (former officer of PetroSaudi International Ltd) had handed about 237,000 documents to the MACC which might be relevant to the prosecution. However, Sri Ram said he was never informed or had any knowledge about it. – Bernama
