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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

NAJIB TRIAL - Day 58: Defence seeks action against contemptuous online article



The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd enters its 58th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.

Summary of Najib’s SRC RM42 million case

Najib is facing 7 charges relating to RM42m involving SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Defence seeks action against contemptuous online article
  • Court fixes Dec 3 for trial if Najib called to enter defence
  • Nov 11 for decision if Najib needs to enter his defence
  • AG formally closes prosecution's case
  • Prosecution wraps up re-examination of final witness, Rosli Hussain
  • RM2.6b issue irrelevant to RM42m received by Najib - MACC IO
  • SRC never reported alleged signature forgeries, says MACC officer
  • Rosli rejects defence's suggestion his testimony 'not entirely truthful'
  • Witness testifies there was draft charge sheet against Najib in 2015
  • Investigation papers in 2015 recommended charges against Nik Faisal
  • No other MACC prosecutors went through SRC investigating papers - Rosli
  • Rosli Hussain disagrees with Apandi Ali's 2016 statement clearing Najib
  • Kevin Morais not involved in SRC case
  • Defence attempts to enter media statements as exhibits
  • Proceedings begin

Thank you for following Malaysiakini's live report
1.05pm - Thank you for following our live report today.

Defence seeks action against contemptuous online article
12.49 pm - Najib Abdul Razak's lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has requested for Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to take action against a purportedly contemptuous article regarding the former prime minister's SRC International case.
Shafee says that he would share the article with Thomas later for Attorney-General's Chambers to look into it.
"If Yang Arif read the article, this is one article that I would imagine Yang Arif would convict the man (writer) for contempt.
"It is among the worst article, with analysis and figures. It has all sorts of remarks that concludes the whole defence team is projecting a defence that is not honest.
"I hope they (AGC) would take action," Shafee tells Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali as Thomas looks on from the prosecution team's side of the court.
However, Shafee did not reveal the author, title and website where the article is uploaded.
The trial then adjourns.

Court fixes Dec 3 for trial if Najib called to enter defence
12.45pm - The first day of Najib Abdul Razak's defence stage of the RM42 million SRC International trial will begin on Dec 3, if the former prime minister is called to enter his defence.
"Dec 3 and 4 to start, then Dec 9 to 12, and Dec 16 to 19," Nazlan ruled when fixing further dates for Najib's possible defence stage.
The former premier will be called to enter his defence in the event the judge decides that a prima facie case has been established against Najib.

Nov 11 for decision if Najib needs to enter his defence
12.35pm - Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali fixes Nov 11 for the decision on whether former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak needs to enter his defence in the RM42 million SRC International case.
"Decision is on Nov 11, three weeks after clarification and final oral submission.
"If there is no prima facie, the accused will be acquitted. But if prima facie is found on any (of Najib's 7 charges), the defence will be called," the judge ruled.
Nazlan also sets oral submission on Oct 22 and tentatively, on Oct 23.

AG formally closes prosecution's case
12.18pm - Attorney-General Tommy Thomas (photo) formally closes the prosecution's case against Najib Abdul Razak.
Thomas then offers 66 witnesses to the defence.
"The trial began on April 3 and is now completed with the 57th witness (Rosli Hussain).
"We like to offer 66 witnesses to defence and for convenience for all parties, we have a list of the witnesses offered.
"With that, I formally close the prosecution's case," says Thomas say.

Prosecution wraps up re-examination of final witness, Rosli Hussain
12.14pm - DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim wraps up his re-examination of MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain.
AG Tommy Thomas will now submit the closing statement.

RM2.6b issue irrelevant to RM42m received by Najib - MACC IO
11.26am - MACC IO Rosli Hussain (below) testifies that the issue of RM2.6 billion being deposited into one of Najib Abdul Razak's bank accounts has nothing to do with the RM42 million transferred into the former prime minister's other accounts.
During re-examination by DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim, the 57th witness explains why he did not investigate allegations concerning the RM2.6 billion deposit.
"Based on my investigation, I found that the money (RM 2.6 billion) was already used up by June 2014. It has nothing to do with the SRC money (RM42 million) that went into Najib's account.
"I did not check out the Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) Finance Ministry and Prince Faisal (Turki) because it has nothing to do with my probe, as this RM2.6 billion is (under) the 1MDB probe and has nothing to do with SRC,” he said.
It was first reported in 2015 that US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) had been channelled into Najib’s personal bank account between March and April 2013.
The Wall Street Journal and whistleblower website Sarawak Report exposed the transfers based on leaked documents from Malaysian investigators.
Najib denied he had abused public funds for personal gain, and described the sum as a political donation from the Saudi royal family.

SRC never reported alleged signature forgeries, says MACC officer
11.12am - The hearing resumes with the re-examination of MACC IO Rosli Hussain by DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim.
Rosli tells the court that throughout his investigations, SRC never filed any complaint about alleged false signatures belonging to the company's former director Suboh Md Yassin or its former CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
“I did not receive complaints from any party with regard to allegations that the signatures were forged...so I did not (see a need) to refer the signatures to a handwriting expert,” says Rosli.
Suhaimi points out that the issue of the pair's signatures being forged had previously been raised during cross-examination. However, Rosli says no formal complaint had been lodged over signature forgeries by SRC or its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari.

Proceedings resume
11.07am - Proceedings resume for the re-examination of Rosli Hussain by the prosecution.
The prosecution seeks to close their case today.

Rosli rejects defence's suggestion his testimony 'not entirely truthful'
10.22am - Rosli Hussain disagrees with lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s final suggestion that there have been parts of his testimony in which he is being "not entirely truthful".
“Absolutely not,” says Rosli, before the hearing breaks for 30 minutes to allow the prosecution to prepare for re-examination.
Earlier, Shafee (photo) wrapped up his cross-examination with a series of suggestions linked to businessperson Low Taek.
This included a suggestion that Low went to great lengths to make sure Najib’s credit card and bank statements were not sent to him to which Rosli responds that he is unsure.
Shafee: Do you agree it is impossible that Najib himself would tell the bank, “don't let me know” (about the status of his accounts)?
Rosli: I disagree.
Shafee: Jho Low has ensured that all checks issued from Najib’s account will not bounce. Correct?
Rosli: I am not sure
Shafee further suggests that Najjb personally checked, or instructed his office to check, if any cheques bounced. Rosli agrees because he would have done the same thing.
Rosli also says he doesn't know whether Low has gone through great lengths to ensure Najib did not discover the real status of his accounts.

Witness testifies there was draft charge sheet against Najib in 2015
10.14am - MACC IO Rosli Hussain agrees that there was a draft charge sheet against then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2015.
The 57th witness says this while under cross-examination from lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Shafee: Was there ever a draft charge sheet made against Najib (in 2015)?
Rosli: There had been.
Shafee: To the extent that Sarawak Report and even the then AG Gani Patail said (something similar)?
Rosli: That I do not know.
When Shafee probed further, Rosli says it is normal to draft charge sheets based on findings from MACC probes.

Investigation papers in 2015 recommended charges against Nik Faisal
10.05am - Rosli Hussain testifies during cross-examination that the 2015 investigation paper into the SRC case had recommended charges against SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and several other personalities linked to the case.
He says that besides Nik Faisal, the other people the investigation papers recommended to be charged are Ihsan Perdana managing director Shamsul Anwar Sulaiman, Ihsan Perdana finance director Abdul Aziz Ismail and SRC International director Suboh Md Yassin.
Shafee: These recommendations are for the (alleged) offence relating to the transfer of RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million (into Najib's accounts between Dec 2014 and Feb 2015)?
Rosli: Yes.

No other MACC prosecutors went through SRC investigating papers - Rosli
10am - MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain disagrees with Shafee's suggestion that the investigation paper on SRC submitted to Apandi on Dec 31, 2015, had first gone through several MACC prosecutors.
Rosli also says he is unaware whether other prosecutors in the attorney-general's chambers had gone through the investigation papers because it was submitted directly to Apandi.
Shafee: I put it to you that your statement is inaccurate because the investigation papers had gone through several DPPs.
Rosli: In MACC, no (it did not)...in the attorney-general's chambers I don't know
Shafee earlier suggests that Rosli's statement is inaccurate as it goes against convention and he (Shafee) had personally interviewed one of the DPPs from the attorney-general's chambers.

Rosli Hussain disagrees with Apandi Ali's 2016 statement clearing Najib
9.45am - MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain testifies during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah that he disagrees with then attorney-general Apandi Ali's (photo) Jan 26, 2016, media statement that there is no evidence to show Najib Abdul Razak gave the approval to transfer money from SRC International to his personal accounts.
Shafee is referring to Apandi's controversial media statement on Jan 26, 2016, which cleared Najib of wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation issue as well as money transfers involving SRC International.
When Shafee asks whether Apandi's decision was final, Rosli, who was the investigating officer in the SRC case then, says even though Apandi made the decision, the MACC can appeal.

Kevin Morais not involved in SRC case
Rosli Hussain testifies that deceased DPP Kevin Morais is not involved in the SRC International investigation in 2015.
The 57th witness says this during cross-examination by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Shafee: Was Kevin Morais involved in SRC (probe)?
Rosli: No.
Shafee: 1MDB (probe)?
Rosli: No.

Defence attempts to enter media statements as exhibits
9.30am - DPP V Sithambaram objects Shafee’s attempt to tender as exhibits, two media statements by the attorney-general Apandi Ali, issued on Jan 18 and Jan 26, 2016.
Sithambaram says while Shafee can refer to the statements in his questioning, to mark the documents is objectionable because the maker of the statements is not in court and therefore, it is hearsay.
Shafee agrees to proceed with his questions but points out the defence was previously told to rely on media reports when it had raised a similar issue on a letter of authority. 

Proceedings begin
9.17am - Proceedings begin.
8.58am - Najib Abdul Razak enters the court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery and waits for proceedings to begin.
Also seen in court are Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and prosecutors, as well as the former prime minister's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and other members of the defence team.

The prosecution aims to close the RM42 million SRC International case against Najib Abdul Razak today, the trial's 58th day.
With the former prime minister’s lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah reaching the end of his cross-examination of MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain, this would allow the prosecution to conduct a re-examination of the 57th and final witness.
However, today’s proceedings, which is set to begin before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali at 9am this morning, may only be a half-day affair as the judge have other criminal cases to preside over in the afternoon.
With Najib’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah set to begin tomorrow and run until Thursday this week, parties in the SRC International trial will be looking to wrap up Rosli’s testimony quickly.

- Mkini

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