The Malaysian Insight

NAJIB Razak will make history today as the first former prime minister of Malaysia to enter his defence on corruption charges when he gives sworn testimony at his trial over SRC International trial funds at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

He will read out his witness statement which is expected to take up most of the day.

The 66-year-old accused will be the first defence witness, as required by law. For the defence stage, hearings dates have been fixed from today until December 19.

“He (Najib) will be reading from the statement. It will be just like (how) other witnesses read their statements, it’s exactly the same thing,” said a member of his defence team. 

After Najib has given his sworn testimony, he will be cross-examined by the prosecution.

The prosecution’s case in the SRC International trial saw 57 witnesses testifying over 57 days between April 3 and August 27.

The prosecution tendered more than 750 exhibits, including Najib’s bank documents, cash transactions, meeting minutes and BlackBerry Messenger chats.

The high court on October 22 and 23 heard submissions from both the defence, led by lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, and prosecution, headed by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ruled on November 11 that evidence submitted by the prosecution showed that Najib abused his office for the purpose of obtaining gratification.

The judge said the prosecution has established a prima facie case for the power abuse charge under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009; CBT charges under Section 409 of the Penal Code; and money-laundering charges under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.

Najib faces seven criminal charges in the SRC International trial. Three are criminal breach of trust, three for money-laundering and one is for power abuse. He faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment upon conviction.

The charges are in relation to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) in 2011 and 2012, for which Najib is accused of receiving RM42 million in his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

Judge Nazlan, while delivering his decision for Najib to enter his defence, said Najib had “enormous influence” over SRC International as finance minister, as the Minister of Finance Inc had been the sole shareholder of SRC, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

He had also been prime minister, the judge added, and had authority under the articles of SRC “to appoint and dismiss directors of the company and to whom certain reserved matters including amendments must be referred.”

Nazlan said the defence’s argument that Najib had not given any instructions or directions, but merely made requests in relation to securing loans from KWAP, “cannot withstand scrutiny”.

The judge said the RM4 billion in loans would not have been approved by KWAP’s investment panel if not for the government guarantees.

The judge had also said that evidence had pointed to “wrongful gain” on Najib’s part as he had issued cheques for the RM42 million.

Najib has said he will clear his name in court.

“In order to defend myself, I will need to give a sworn statement where I can be cross-examined by the prosecution,” he said in a Facebook post.

“My lawyers and I are given the opportunity to call witnesses for the first time in this trial.

“Until now, we have only heard from the prosecution witnesses. Defence witnesses are given a chance to provide the real picture and prove that I’m innocent.

“I will soon have a chance to clear my name in court.” – December 3, 2019.