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LIVE BLOG | The hearing of former premier Najib Abdul Razak's SRC International case is scheduled to commence this afternoon at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
He is accused of criminal breach of trust and money laundering in relation to funds belonging to the former 1MDB subsidiary.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas will be leading the team of 12 prosecutors while Najib's defence team consists of 11 members, led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Today's hearing will be presided over by Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
In addition, three lawyers will be holding a watching brief: AG Kalidas and Rajsurian Pillay for the Bar Council, and Revin Kumar for Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- 'We are ready to see justice done' - S'wak Report editor
- From source of cash to Chanel spree - AG vows to tell all
- AG fumes over late motions, says defence 'insulting intelligence'
- Prosecution and defence clash over bid to stay hearing
- Clare Rewcastle-Brown drops by Duta Court
- Lokman: It's selective prosecution
- Najib's supporters: 'We are part of him'
Malaysiakini brings you live reports below.
First day of Najib's trial ends, resumes on April 15
5.36pm - The first day of Najib's trial draws to an end. Justice Nazlan fixes April 15 to May 10 for the trial to continue.
He says some degree of priority must be given due to overwhelming public interest in the case.
Witness tells court about Gandingan Mentari directors
4.40pm - Muhamad Akmaludin, who is the first witness to testify, tells the court that one Shairah Begum is a director of Gandingan Mentari.
The money from SRC was passed through two companies, including Gandingan Mentari, before it landed in Najib's bank account. The other company was Ihsan Perdana.
Earlier, Malaysiakini erroneously reported that the witness identified the abovementioned director as "Faridah Begum", who is the wife of former AG Mohamed Apandi Ali. Malaysiakini regrets the error.
'We are ready to see justice done' - S'wak Report editor
4.20pm - Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown leaves the court complex. She tells the media that she will continue to watch this trial from afar and occasionally come to court for the hearings.
She says she managed to get into the video-link room to watch the trial, and that it had been interesting.
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"It was good to see the trial finally go ahead, and I know there have been a lot of people who have been very anxious and affected by some of these events, who were wondering if this trial will get on the way."
"[…] We are ready to see justice done with a proper trial conducted," Rewcastle-Brown says.
She also reiterates that she will be resuming her focus on deforestation issues in Borneo.
Sarawak-born Rewcastle-Brown and the whistleblower site she established had played a key role in exposing the 1MDB scandal.
After Rewcastle-Brown leaves the court, a man who identifies himself as "Sofian Putra" leads a small group of Najib's supporters in loud cheers of "Allahuakbar Takbir" (Allah is greatest) and "Tolak media asing" (Reject foreign media).
They are eventually stopped from cheering by police officers, as it is against the rules to make noise in the court complex.
When approached, Sofian tells the media that foreign media are unwelcome because they made "Malays fight Malays" and they are “liars”.
First witness takes the stand
3.25pm - The prosecution calls its first witness, a deputy registrar with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) Malaysia.
The witness, Muhamad Akmaludin Abdullah, 35, says his task includes providing information on companies and businesses to the public and government agencies.
Mohd Akmaludin testifies that he received a request from the MACC to run checks on records of three companies, namely SRC International, Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana.
He tells the court details of the companies as per SSM's record.
From source of cash to Chanel spree - AG vows to tell all
3.15pm - In his opening statement, Thomas says the prosecution team will explain to the court how the accused engaged in money laundering by receiving RM27 million in his Ambank account in December 2014.
These monies were allegedly moved to other accounts, including that of several companies. Prosecutors will also tell the court of a Chanel shopping spree in Honolulu, house renovations, and funding for various BN component parties.
Thomas' opening statement can be read in full here.
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AG fumes over late motions, says defence 'insulting intelligence'
2.50pm - Thomas argues the defence had ample time to challenge the charges against Najib.
He tells the court there is no reason for motions regarding the charges to be brought at the eleventh hour.
"This cannot go on. The defence is insulting intelligence. They had months to do this," he adds.
Defence counsels Harvinderjit Singh and Yusof then submit to the court their arguments for the trial to be stayed.
After listening to lengthy submissions from both Najib's defence counsels and the prosecution, Justice Nazlan rules that he will set another date for the application filed by the defence this morning.
Nazlan then orders for the trial to start.
Prosecution and defence clash over bid to stay hearing
2.10pm -The hearing starts with Thomas introducing members of the prosecution and Najib's defence counsels.
Thomas then tells Justice Nazlan that the prosecution is ready to proceed with their opening statement.
However, lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah rises and informs the court that the defence has filed a certificate of urgency this morning and requests that the court consider ordering a stay of the hearing.
Telling the court the defence will be challenging the validity of the charges brought against Najib, Shafee says he will let another defence counsel Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden explain why the matter should be addressed before the trial starts.
Thomas then tells the court that the prosecution will object to this.
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Clare Rewcastle-Brown drops by Duta Court
2.10pm - Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who has researched and written extensively on the 1MDB affair, is at the Duta Court Complex.
She is hoping to hear first-hand how the prosecution lays out its case.
"You often get a lot of interesting information that maybe journalists were not aware of before," she says.
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Lokman: It's selective prosecution
2.05pm - Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam tells reporters that Najib is a victim of selective prosecution.
He claims Pakatan Harapan cannot pin anything concrete on the former premier after 11 months in power.
"I believe this is selective prosecution since the main witness Nik Faisal (Ariff Kamil Nik Othman Arif Kamil) who is in charge of the trust fund under Najib's name.
"He (Nik Faisal) knew that the money should be banked into this account since Najib was one of the guarantors for SRC International to obtain funding," he adds.
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Nik Faisal is the former director of SRC International.
Lokman claims that authorities should have questioned Nik Faisal first but had not done so.
"They are charging Najib first and investigating later," he says.
He also claims that even if there was a case, it should be for cheating under the Penal Code and not under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 which is being applied now.
Najib enters dock
2pm - Najib enters the dock while Thomas and Shafee take their seats.
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Najib's youngest son Norashman is in the public gallery. The former premier's wife Rosmah Mansor is not present.
New member of Najib's defence team
1.45pm - There's a surprise new member in Najib's defence team.
According to a press handout, former solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden will join 10 others on the defence team.
Yusof had previously served as lead prosecutor against PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II trial before representing the latter over his involvement in the Bersih 3.0 rally.
Meanwhile, the list of prosecutors is as follows: Thomas, Sulaiman Abdullah, V Sithambaram, Manoj Kurup, Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Donald Joseph Franklin, Suhaimi Ibrahim, Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Sulaiman Kho Kheng Fuei, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Mohd Ashraf Adrin Kamaril and Muhammad Izzat Fauzan.
Najib's supporters: 'We are part of him'
1.25pm - So far, there are about 20 supporters of Najib at the lobby of the Duta Court Complex.
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One man, who calls himself "Baha Taha", tells reporters that Najib "is the only right man to rule the country" and pledges to support the him "forever".
When reporters ask him how long he has been waiting outside the court complex, Baha Taha replies he will be there "permanently."
He expects "thousands" of supporters to turn up later.
"We are not supporters of Najib. We are part of him!" he adds. - Mkini
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