High Court Fixes 3 Additional Trial Dates To Complete 1mdb Case

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Najib Razak’s lead counsel said the defence wants to recall several witnesses, but gives an assurance the re-examination will be ‘short’. (Bernama pic)KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has fixed three additional trial dates to enable the prosecution to close its case in former prime minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption trial.
“The current set of trial dates will run until Saturday (April 27),” deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told FMT.
He said the three additional dates will see the case continue on April 30, May 2 and May 31.
Earlier, trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah met the prosecution and defence teams in chambers to identify on common dates on which the trial could continue.
Sequerah had previously set trial dates running to December, including on Saturdays.
Before the end of yesterday’s proceedings, Najib’s lead counsel, Shafee Abdullah, informed the judge for the first time of the defence team’s intention to recall former 1MDB director and CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi to the witness stand.
He, however, assured the court that the cross-examination would be “short”.
Sequerah, now a Court of Appeal judge, then remarked: “Looks like we won’t finish in April.”
Shafee also said the defence would recall former 1MDB director Ismee Ismail, former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and 1MDB chief financial officer Azmi Tahir.
The defence was allowed to recall witnesses after the prosecution amended the charges to correct the value of gratification Najib is alleged to have received.
The trial, which started on Aug 28, 2019, has spanned more than 200 days, and seen 50 prosecution witnesses testify.
Najib is facing 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds of RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014. - FMT

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