Guan Eng, Anwar got time off, why pick on me, says Najib

Najib Razak’s court hearing was shortened last Thursday, giving rise to criticism from opposition MPs.

PETALING JAYA: Najib Razak this evening questioned the apparent double standard used by opposition MPs who criticised a shortened hearing of his criminal trial last week at the request of the Dewan Rakyat speaker.

Najib said that trials of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had in the past been postponed so that he could attend the Dewan Rakyat.

The corruption trial of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had been postponed for two months in 2018 on the ground that he was seeking for charges to be dropped.

“But Najib cannot shorten his trial to 3.15pm from 5pm with the condition it would be heard throughout the lunch break so he could attend Parliament,” he wrote on Facebook.

“What’s the point of criticising the shortening of the hearing by an hour and 45 minutes as we cancelled the lunch break the other day?” he said.

Najib said the opposition appeared to be uneasy with what he had said in the lower house last week. They should instead refute his points in Parliament.

Earlier today, Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Harun denied that he had instructed the courts to postpone the proceedings of Najib’s 1MDB case to allow the latter to join the debate at the Dewan Rakyat last Thursday.

He said he had only written to the judge, asking that consideration be given to Najib, who is Pekan MP.

Chang Lih Kang (PH-Tanjong Malim) had raised the issue in the lower house, asking why he had written to the judge asking for court proceedings to be postponed.

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah had halted proceedings early at 3.15pm instead of 4.30pm last Thursday after receiving a letter from the Dewan Rakyat. He rejected Najib’s request for the trial to end by lunch-time, and ordered that proceedings continue through the lunch break. - FMT