This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 15, 2020 - January 21, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: The lawyer for co-accused Arul Kanda Kandasamy in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit tampering case will not be cross-examining prosecution witnesses until his client is called to testify for the prosecution.

“This is to avoid a situation where our client may be put in a compromise position when he takes the witness stand,” counsel Datuk N Sivananthan told the High Court yesterday.

“Hence, we will only be cross-examining the prosecution witness after our client has testified,” he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, in his opening statement at the trial, said the prosecution planned to call Arul Kanda, formerly 1MDB president and chief executive officer, to testify on its behalf against former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

It would do so by invoking Section 63 of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission Act 2009, saying when more than one person is charged for an offence under the Act, the prosecution may apply to have one of them to testify for the prosecution.

Najib is facing a charge of abusing his power to amend the final 1MDB audit report before it was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee to protect himself from disciplinary, civil and criminal actions, while Arul Kanda has been charged with abetting the former premier.

Sivananthan, speaking to reporters after yesterday’s proceedings, said he had so far cross-examined one witness in the trial but would not undertake any further cross-examination until Arul Kanda testifies.

The senior lawyer said therefore, a possibility that some of the witnesses who had testified earlier would be recalled for cross-examination by him at a later stage of the trial.

Five witnesses had yet to be cross-examined, including former chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and National Audit Department officer Nor Salwani Muhammad.

Sivananthan said this is the first time the prosecution is invoking Section 63 on a co-accused person to testify for the prosecution.

If Arul Kanda takes the stand as a prosecution witness, the charge against him would be dropped.

The trial continues today with Saadatul Nafisah’s cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.