The criminal trial of ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda involving the alleged tampering with 1MDB's final audit report enters its sixth day today at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Judge Zaini: See you again in 2020
- Ambrin agrees Arul Kanda was 'smallest person' in audit report meeting
- Witness: I have no issue with Salwani recording the audio of meeting
- Najib unaware about two differing 1MDB audit reports, says ex-AG
- Ambrin: I was under pressure to amend 1MDB final audit report
- Amended audit report is 16 pages less than original version
- Former AG frustrated with questions on 1MDB audit report, court hears
- Ali Hamsa said audit report could tarnish PM's name - Ambrin
Judge Zaini: See you again in 2020
2pm - Defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and N Sivanathan wrapped up their cross-examination on sixth prosecution witness, former auditor-general Ambrin Buang.
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan then starts discussing on potential next dates for the trial, saying that the three more days set in January might not be sufficient to complete the case.
The court then agrees to mark nine more days in March and April next year as the tentative dates for the hearing.
The dates are March 9 to 11, April 6 to 9, and April 13 to 16.
These are on top of the dates already set for Jan 13 to 16.
Zaini also set Jan 9 for the case to be mentioned.
"That is the end of proceeding for this year. I will see you again in year 2020," the judge says.
Ambrin agrees Arul Kanda was 'smallest person' in audit report meeting
1.52pm - Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang agrees with Arul Kanda Kandasamy's lead defence counsel N Sivananthan that the former 1MDB CEO was the "smallest person" in the Feb 24, 2016, meeting.
The Feb 24, 2016 meeting was one attended by Ambrin, then chief secretary Ali Hamsa, then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's then private secretary Syukry Mohd Salleh, and then attorney-general's chambers representative Dzulkifli Ahmad, among others.
Ambrin is replying to Sivananthan's question on the fact that the witness did not mention in any of his previous testimony that Arul Kanda influenced his final decision making in regards to making amendments to the 1MDB final audit report.
Sivananthan: In regards to the people who influenced you in the final decision, you did not mention Arul Kanda's name?
Ambrin: Yes.
Sivananthan: Of all the senior officers (in the Feb 24, 2016 meeting), the smallest person in the room was my client Arul Kanda. He has no choice but to answer the question from the National Audit Department?
Ambrin: Yes.
Then like Shafee before him, Sivananthan reserved further cross-examination until the audio transcript of the Feb 24, 2016, meeting is finalised.
Witness: I have no issue with Salwani recording the audio of meeting
1.35pm - Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang defends his former junior officer Nor Salwani Muhammad for recording the audio of a meeting on 1MDB audit report on Feb 24, 2016.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the witness testifies that Salwani (above) did not ask permission to put an audio recorder in the meeting room, but he did not see it as a problem.
"To me, it is not necessary to ask permission, because the whole intention was for her to take notes for our department," he tells the court.
"To me, it is a small matter, not a big issue," Ambrin added when Shafee further presses him if he thinks it is alright for Salwani secretly record the meeting proceedings.
Earlier in the trial, Salwani in her testimony as the prosecution's fifth witness had admitted to placing the recorder in the meeting room just before the meeting was about to start.
For the record, the meeting chaired by the then chief secretary to the government, Ali Hamsa, at his office in Putrajaya was held to discuss the contents of the National Audit Department findings in its audit on 1MDB.
Najib unaware about two differing 1MDB audit reports, says ex-AG
1.14pm - Then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak did not seem to know about 1MDB's two conflicting financial statements, the High Court hears.
During cross-examination by Najib's lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Ambrin says this was Najib's reaction when the witness raised the matter with the then-premier during a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office on Feb 22, 2016.
Shafee: When you briefed him (Najib), was he surprised by your disclosure (about 1MDB's two differing financial statements)?
Ambrin: I think I was the one who informed him. He did not ask me about it. I informed him, though he seemed unaware.
Shafee: After briefing him (Najib), did you feel he was alerted about the (1MDB conflicting) financial statements?
Ambrin: I alerted him.
Shafee: Did you get the impression that he (Najib) did not know about this (1MDB two differing financial statements) prior to the briefing?
Ambrin: Yes.
Previously, the court heard that the issue of 1MDB's two conflicting financial statements was among four issues dropped from the 1MDB final audit report following a meeting on Feb 24, 2016.
Ambrin: I was under pressure to amend 1MDB final audit report
12.56pm - Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang (below) testifies that he had no choice as he was under pressure in relation to the amendments to the 1MDB final audit report, the High Court hears.
The sixth key prosecution witness says this during cross-examination by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Shafee asks Ambrin what choice the witness had if someone pushed the latter to criminality, such as during the February 2016 meeting which resulted in the dropping of four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
Ambrin: In this particular case, there was no choice. I was under pressure to do the amendments, due to national interest (raised by other attendees at the meeting).
Ambrin is referring to what transpired at the Feb 24, 2016 meeting attended by former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and then chief secretary Ali Hamsa, among others.
In reply to Shafee's question on whether Ambrin’s agreeing to the amendments compromised the witness' integrity, the witness counters that he is talking about the National Audit Department's major findings on 1MDB, which include its cash flow problems and poor governance.
Ambrin adds that his conscience is clear when Shafee asks whether the changes to the report compromised Ambrin's integrity.
Amended audit report is 16 pages less than original version
12.37pm - A former auditor-general testifies in court that the amended audit report on 1MDB prepared by the National Audit Department (NAD) in 2016 was 16 pages shorter than its original version.
Ambrin Buang, who is the sixth prosecution witness, says this in confirming the original version published by NAD on Feb 21, 2016, had 354 pages.
The amended report, which had also been tendered as evidence in the trial, has a total of 338 pages.
"Because there were items omitted from this report," Ambrin says when answering a question by DPP Akram Gharib on why the amended report had fewer pages.
Prior to this, Ambrin also confirms to the court that Chapter 3 of the amended audit report which discusses SRC International investment also had fewer pages.
The court hears that Chapter 3 in the original report had a total of 21 pages which contained 11 topics, while in the amended report, Chapter 3 only had 10 pages with seven topics.
Former AG frustrated with questions on 1MDB audit report, court hears
12.12pm - Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang expresses frustration with questions raised over the finalisation of the 1MDB audit report in 2016, the High Court hears.
During examination-in-chief by lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram, the sixth key witness says this about what he felt when he attended the meeting on Feb 24 that year.
In the meeting also attended by, among others, former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and then chief secretary Ali Hamsa (above), a decision was made to remove four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
"I felt so frustrated for so many reasons. While in the (meeting) room with the people, there were a lot of questions about our (National Audit Department) audit report (on 1MDB) at that time being finalised.
"We were prepared to defend our (initial report) at the PAC (public accounts committee hearing on 1MDB), Ambrin says.
The witness adds that NAD was unhappy with attempts to remove the issues from the 1MDB final audit report as they spent a lot of time hunting the required information and had even been generous with 1MDB in giving them time to respond to queries by NAD in preparing the report.
"The other frustration is that the people (at the meeting) sometimes do not understand the role of the National Audit Department.
"We (NAD) look at things based on facts and these facts must be verified by supporting documents," Ambrin says, adding that the auditor- general's role is one enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
Ali Hamsa said audit report could tarnish PM's name - Ambrin
12.07pm - The court hears from former auditor-general Ambrin Buang that the then chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa had told a meeting on Feb 24, 2016 that contents of the audit report on 1MDB could tarnish the name of the prime minister.
For the record, the prime minister then was the accused Najib Abdul Razak.
Testifying on the contents of an audio recording purportedly from the meeting at Ali's office in Putrajaya, Ambrin claims that the attendees at the meeting were told to defend the PM.
"My opinion at that time was that everybody were really worried about our report," Ambrin tells the court.
According to the sixth prosecution witness, he, however, was not worried about the report, and was ready to defend the National Audit Department's findings on 1MDB before the Public Accounts Committee hearing.
12pm - Proceedings resume after short break.
11.20am - The High Court wraps up full playback of the two hours and 45-minutes audio recording of the discussion during a meeting on Feb 24, 2016, where a decision was made to drop four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
The full playback is for the purpose of identification by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang, who was one of the meeting's attendees, alongside former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former chief secretary Ali Hamsa, among others.
The first hour of the audio recording was heard during yesterday's proceedings.
The court goes for a short break.
9.57am - Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is seen entering the High Court, after attending to another matter.
Shafee (above) then takes a seat with other members of Najib's defence team, while the audio recording playback of the Feb 24, 2016, meeting is still going on in court.
Feb 24, 2016, was a meeting involving former auditor-general Ambrin Buang, then chief secretary Ali Hamsa, and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy among others, where a decision was made to remove four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
9.40am - Najib Abdul Razak and K Arul Kanda enter the dock as proceedings begin.
Lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram informs the High Court that the former prime minister's lead defence counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, would be a little late as he has another matter to attend to, but that Shafee has agreed for proceedings to resume without him.
The court then plays back the two hours and 45 minutes audio recording of the Feb 24, 2016 meeting in which a decision was made to remove four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
The playback is for identification purpose by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang, who is in the witness dock listening intently to the recording of the meeting.
Also seen in court is Arul Kanda's lead defence counsel N Sivananthan and the rest of the former 1MDB CEO's defence team.
9.29am - Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak enters the High Court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery.
Also seen in court awaiting proceedings to begin are lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram and other DPPs, as well as members of Najib's defence team.
9.25am - Former 1MDB CEO K Arul Kanda enters the court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery.
The sixth day of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and ex-1MDB CEO K Arul Kanda’s 1MDB audit report tampering trial will see the prosecution resuming the playback of a secret audio recording of a crucial meeting on Feb 24, 2016.
The playback is sought to allow former auditor-general Ambrin Buang to make identification of aspects of the discussion at the meeting which he took part in, dealing with the decision to remove four controversial issues from the 1MDB final audit report.
In the event that the prosecution, led by DPP Gopal Sri Ram, wraps up examination-in-chief of sixth witness Ambrin during the hearing before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today, Najib’s defence team would only be able to at best conduct preliminary cross-examination of said witness.
This is because both the prosecution as well as Najib and Arul Kanda’s (photo below) defence teams have not reached an agreement on a finalised transcript of the audio recording, which the defence lawyers contended is necessary to help them prepare proper cross-examination of Ambrin and other key witnesses that attended the meeting or are in some way linked to it.
Among these witnesses is the former chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, who took part in the meeting’s discussion that led to a decision to drop some issues, such as 1MDB’s two conflicting financial statements, from the 1MDB final audit report.
Another witness is National Audit Department officer Nor Salwani Muhammad, who had used an electronic device to record the discussion when she was not allowed to attend the meeting.
Once the prosecution and defence teams come to an agreed finalised version of the audio transcript, then these witnesses would be called back to the witness stand and subjected to a more in-depth cross-examination. - Mkini
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