KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has filed an application to postpone the 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) audit report tampering trial, which he and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy are supposed to face beginning on Monday.
The application was filed today through Messrs Shafee & Co, naming the public prosecutor and Arul Kanda as respondents.
In the application, the former prime minister requested for the trial, fixed for Monday until Nov 29 at the High Court here before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan to be moved to Jan 13, 2020.
In his supporting affidavit, Najib, who is first defendant in the case, stated that he and his lawyers would only have until Dec 2 to prepare for his defence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial, in which he is facing seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.
On Nov 11, High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ordered Najib, 66, to enter his defence on three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power in relation to the funds after after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.
According to Najib, if the (audit report tampering) trial was to continue as scheduled, he would suffer prejudice as he and his lawyers would require a reasonable and sufficient amount of time to prepare for his defence in the SRC case, in which the charges he was facing were serious.
The Pekan MP also said his defence team, at the same time, were also involved in the preparation of another 1MDB case that began on Aug 28 and was still ongoing. His defence in the SRC trial is expected to begin on Dec 3.
“This gives me and my defence team a limited time of about two weeks to prepare for my defence, including reviewing the witnesses.
“With the commencement of the 1MDB audit report tampering trial this month, it will prevent me and my lawyers from preparing my defence case in a comprehensive and effective manner,” he added.
He said the application to adjourn was reasonable so as to allow him to have a fair trial in line with his constitutional rights, in the best interest of the administration of justice and to allow the court overseeing the SRC trial to take into account all material evidence to reach a fair decision.
Yesterday, Judge Mohamed Zaini, in making the decision to begin the trial on Monday as scheduled, said that it would be hard-pressed to find alternatives dates if the earlier trial dates fixed before him be vacated as applied by the prosecution.
On Nov 7, former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who is the lead prosecutor, made the application to vacate the trial dates, as the key witness who would be called in the case was currently testifying under cross-examination in Najib’s trial involving the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds (1MDB case). - Bernama
