AT HOME, NAJIB AWAITS HIS WATERLOO – WHILE ANGRY MALAYSIANS HUNGER FOR JUSTICE: APEX COURT TO DECIDE IF HIS SRC TRIAL SHOULD BEGIN IMMEDIATELY OR WHEN ALL PRE-TRIAL APPEALS EXHAUSTED

THE Federal Court will decide tomorrow if Najib Razak’s money laundering trial should begin immediately or only after all the pre-trial appeals have been exhausted.

The apex court is expected to inform Najib whether his trial involving SRC International will get under way regardless of interlocutory matters or cross appeals related to the case.

Najib’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, will not be present at the hearing tomorrow as he is away on a working trip, said lawyer Harvinderjit Singh when contacted.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court last week approved the temporary release of Shafee’s passport for work-related travel to Sabah and Australia between March 22 and April 5.

The Court of Appeal meanwhile on Thursday granted a stay to Najib’s corruption trial involving RM42 million of SRC International funds, pending the disposal of his appeals relating to interlocutory matters at the Federal Court.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas had told the court that he would write to Chief Justice Richard Malanjum to fix the hearing date for the appeals as soon as possible.

In allowing the application to stay, justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof, who chaired a three-judge panel, had dismissed three of four appeals by the former prime minister.

The court allowed Najib’s application for the prosecution to provide a copy of ad hoc prosecutor Sulaiman Abdullah’s appointment letter.

The three other matters were Najib’s appeals to obtain a gag order to prohibit the media and public from discussing the merits of his criminal case; access to investigation documents including witness statements at the pre-trial stage; and on the attorney-general’s withdrawal of his transfer certificate, which was dismissed by the panel earlier today.

Najib will appeal the dismissal of the other three appeals to the Federal Court.

The 66-year-old Pekan MP is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust and one charge of abusing his position over SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.

He was also charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same amount of money.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT