The Malaysian Insight

NAJIB Razak opted to give evidence from the witness stand because he is innocent and has nothing to hide, said his lawyer as the trial of the accused over SRC International funds entered the defence stage today.

“He has chosen to go into the witness box and open himself to be cross-examined because we have advised him there is nothing for him to fear,” Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters after delivering the defence’s opening statement today.

“You can question him from any direction. I am sure he has the answer because if you are white, you are white. If you are cheated, you are cheated. There is nothing to be fearful about.”

Najib is currently reading from a 243-page witness statement, which is expected to take days. In it, he lays outs the reasons he should not be convicted of seven criminal charges – three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of power abuse.

The charges in the SRC International case are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to the entity in 2011 and 2012, for which the former prime minister is accused of receiving RM42 million in his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

Najib was ordered to enter his defence on November 11 and he could choose to  keep silent, give evidence from the witness stand and be cross-examined, or make an unsworn statement from the dock.

Shafee said Najib chose the “no holds barred” path, unlike “some politicians, who you know, chose not to be cross-examined.”

Shafee was likely referring to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who chose to make an unsworn statement from the dock in the 2011 Sodomy II trial.

Shafee declined to reveal the list of defence witnesses, adding, however, that Najib wanted access to documents recorded when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission questioned Low Taek Jho, commonly known as Jho Low, as well as former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.

“Some of these witnesses are untraceable or have absconded. But recordings of their statement have been taken, including Jho Low, Nik Faisal and so on. We are questioning, what is wrong if the prosecution reveal to us these documents that may assist us in our defence.

“If they have this information that may assist us, we feel that it is their duty to disclose it to us.”

The crux of Najib’s defence, Shafee said, was that the 66-year-old accused was misled by Jho Low and others.

“The leader of the pack is obviously Jho Low because if he turned up today and arrested, my client’s defence is 100% better.

“The entire scheme was devised by Jho Low together with four Arabs – two from Saudi Arabia and another two from Abu Dhabi. The entire management of 1MDB was paid off by Jho Low. They were all eating from the palm of Jho Low,” Shafee added.

The prosecution is led by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali. – December 3, 2019.