KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 9): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has sent a second letter of representation to review the charges against him in the RM6.6 billion criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial.
During a brief case mention on Wednesday (Aug 9), deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi informed the court that the prosecution received the letter from Najib's lawyers at Shafee & Co last week.
The DPP added that they needed about a month and a half to two months for Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun to decide on the matter as there were quite a bit of documents attached to the letter regarding the charges.
This will be Najib's second letter of representation — usually sent by lawyers seeking to reduce or withdraw the charges against the accused — pertaining to this case.
Previously, Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the first letter was sent two and a half years ago and was subsequently rejected.
In this trial, Najib is accused along with former Treasury secretary general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah of misappropriating government funds to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
Irwan's counsels had also sent two letters of representation regarding the charges. The first letter was sent in February 2020, followed by another one in March 2023.
During the proceedings on Wednesday, both Shafee and Irwan’s counsel Datuk K Kumaraendran said they had no objections to a short adjournment but would prefer a date within the month.
High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin then set Sept 12 for the next case management to update the court on the outcome of the letters.
Earlier, the High Court judge also reminded all parties to come to court on time as the court has other cases to attend to.
This is Najib's fourth trial related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd where he is charged alongside Irwan with six counts of CBT involving RM6.6 billion of government funds to IPIC. The trial has yet to begin.
It was reported in February that IPIC and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS agreed to pay the Malaysian government US$1.8 billion (RM8.26 billion).
The settlement was in respect of the legal proceedings in the London Court of International Arbitration and the London High Court.