The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak involving the alleged abuse of power and money laundering of 1MDB funds enters its 25th day today at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the proceedings.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Defence team seeks documents MACC secured from ex-Petro Saudi exec Justo
- 1MDB-PSI joint-venture in USD700m debt due to purported higher value of PSI assets
10.30am: Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allows a short break to allow lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram to attend to a separate court matter before another judge.
Shafee and Sri Ram are respectively acting for opposing parties in a mediation in the separate court case.
1MDB-PSI joint-venture in USD700m debt due to purported higher value of PSI assets
10am: Former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi starts his testimony today answering lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's questions on the mechanics of joint venture the company had with Petrosaudi Holdings (Cayman) Ltd (PSI) in 2009.
Shahrol (below) explains to the court that the joint venture company called 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd was already in USD700m debt when he signed their joint-venture agreement on Sept 28, 2009.
He says this was due to three assets injected by PSI into the joint-venture entity was purportedly valued at USD2.2 billion, which was USD700m higher than the USD1.5b that PSI agreed to contribute.
When Shafee asks him to name the three assets, Shahrol says he can't remember their names except that one of them was oil fields in Turkmenistan, and two other assets in Argentina and Canada.
The court also hears from Shahrol that 1MDB board of directors, however, had never seen ownership papers on these assets that were purportedly owned by PSI.
Defence team seeks documents MACC secured from ex-Petro Saudi exec Justo
9.45am: Najib Abdul Razak's defence team seeks for documents that MACC received from former Petro Saudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo.
Lawyer Al Firdaus Shahrul Naing informs the High Court of this application, of which copies of the cause papers have been just served on the prosecution this morning.
Lead DPP Gopal Sri Ram then applies for a case management date to allow them time to reply.
Sri Ram says this is because the prosecution needs to check with MACC as some of the officers may be investigating other cases and not be in Kuala Lumpur.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah then fixes Oct 31 for case management of the application.
According to the online cause list at ecourtservices.kehakiman.gov.my, the application lists Najib as the applicant and the prosecution as respondent, for the matter before Sequerah this morning.
The application by Najib's defence team seeks for the MACC to hand over documents purportedly contained in Justo's pendrive, which is reported to be purportedly in the prosecution's custody.
The application was made under Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code, and Section 60(3) of the Evidence Act.
Section 51A of the CPC refers to the prosecution's need to supply court documents before commencement of trial, and situation where the court may allow accused to examine certain court documents even after trial has commenced.
Section 60 (3) of the Evidence Act refers to situation where court may order the production of material thing or document for its inspection if oral evidence make reference to it.
9.39am: Accused Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock as proceedings begin.
The 25th day of Najib Abdul Razak's RM2.28 billion 1MDB trial goes on today following a two-day gap in proceedings this week.
Hearing before Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah did not proceed on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the accused former prime minister needing to attend to oral submissions in his separate RM42 million SRC International case at another court.
With the 1MDB trial being less than half a day on Monday due to Najib's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah needing to go for an eye check-up, the defence today will have the whole day to resume cross-examination of the ninth prosecution witness, the sovereign wealth fund's ex-CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.
Three days ago, the star witness testified that the planned ceremony at Putrajaya for the official signing of the joint-venture project between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International Limited (PSI) on Sept 29, 2009, never took place.
Shahrol told the court that he and then-PSI CEO Tarek Obaid signed the agreement separately instead of an earlier planned official ceremony featuring then-premier Najib and the late Saudi King Abdullah Abdul Aziz al-Saud. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.