Court sets September to hear Najib's RM27m SRC case
Published on: Friday, January 19, 2024
By: Malay Mail
Judge K. Muniandy fixed September 17 until 19 and September 23 and 24 this year for the trial period. (Malay Mail pic)
Kuala Lumpur: The High Court today decided to fix a trial date for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's ongoing money laundering case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Judge K. Muniandy fixed September 17 until 19 and September 23 and 24 this year for the trial period.
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This came after deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul told the court his team needed more time to prepare themselves.
“Yang Arif, this case has plenty of documents to go through and I very humbly ask for a date in April for case management,” Mohd Ashrof asked the court.
Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib, then asked the court to drop the case entirely as it had been postponed since 2018.
Shafee said he had asked for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on December 1 last year citing the prosecution's slow pace in sending their letter of representation sent to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) on July 31.
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“Yang Arif we have had 30 different dates to hear this case and there have been too many case management dates. I humbly ask for a DNA or DNAA seeing as prolonging this will only prejudice my client,” Shafee explained to the court.
Judge Muniandy however said since today was meant for case management and the prosecution was not ready they may as well set a trial date moving forward.
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He then said he would keep March 12 for case management.
Mohd Ashrof assured the Judge that he only needed five days for the trial. As such both parties agreed on the dates in September.
Judge Muniandy also said that if in September the prosecution still wasn't ready, Shafee could request for a DNAA or full acquittal.
In December last year, Shafee applied to be acquitted of three other charges of money laundering involving SRC funds totaling RM27 million.
The case dates back to 2019 and has been mentioned several times before the court. Mohd Ashrof had at the time said the case involved high profile people with many documents to be scrutinised and that there was another case (International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) vs Najib) that had not yet been heard.
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