1MDB-Tanore: Najib takes stand in his defence

Sunday 19 Jan 2025

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 2): Fresh from having charges dropped in one criminal case, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is back again in court, this time defending himself in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial.

The 71 year-old is testifying in his defence following the High Court decision on Oct 30 that the prosecution has established a prima-facie case in the trial, where Najib is charged with four abuse of power charges for allegedly gratifying himself with RM2.27 billion and 21 money-laundering charges.

On Monday, the imprisoned former prime minister appeared before presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, in his customary suit, flanked by prison guards.

Najib, who had a knee problem a few weeks ago, was seen taking the stand with the aid of a cane.

His lawyers, led by senior counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had filed a two-volume, 525-page witness statement late last Friday evening. Najib read from his prepared statement.

At the onset of proceedings, Shafee informed the court that the voluminous defence was the "minimum that they could do", given that their client is currently in prison.

Shafee said that it was not easy to take instructions in a prison setting.

"It is not easy, it is very trying. When we are about to achieve something, it is time to go back, and we can't get an appointment easily," the senior counsel said.

Shafee on Monday.

Upon hearing this, Sequerah commented that the defence had done a "commendable job", given the tight deadline and trying circumstances.

Shafee also requested the court for Najib to read his statement out loud in court, as his statement was taken in "parcel by parcel" and not in one go. Reading it out loud, Shafee said, would help refresh his client's mind.

Najib's deep and clear voice reverberated in the court room, as he read from the statement. The court was filed with lawyers and a handful of supporters.

Najib has long maintained innocence in any 1MDB or SRC International Sdn Bhd charges. Specifically in this trial, Najib — through his lawyers — has often repeated that like many companies, 1MDB is governed by the memorandum and articles of association.

Even if Najib was the sole shareholder and the chairman of the board of advisors, the defence argued that the board of directors was the "biggest organ" in a company, and that it made decisions and "pushed" it to the shareholder — Najib — for his consideration.

The defence also maintained that the management had colluded with fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) behind Najib's back, and had failed to adequately carry out their duties.

Najib has also maintained that it was his genuine belief that the monies he received were donations, which were spent on corporate social responsibility projects for the benefit of the public.

The former finance minister also claimed that financial institutions, including AmBank, which housed his accounts that received the funds and even Bank Negara Malaysia, did not raise any red flags against the numerous transactions over a four-year period.

Just before the decision at the end of the prosecution's case, Najib expressed regret that the multibillion-dollar scandal happened under his watch, tendering an "unequivocal" apology to all Malaysians for his oversight.

He, however, repeated his honest belief that the monies were from Saudi Arabia, and not intentionally misappropriated from the strategic state development fund.

Trial adjourned after 20-odd mins

Earlier, Shafee had also informed the court that the defence plans to call about 20 witnesses.

The trial was adjourned after only about 20 minutes, due to some amendments to the witness statement. It will start again at 2pm.

In this trial, Najib is accused of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering.

Edited ByAniza Damis & Isabelle Francis

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