KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak has expressed happiness over the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in his final criminal case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM27 million, despite still being incarcerated.

Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah conveyed this to reporters when asked about the former’s reaction to the latest development in court this morning.

"He is happy simply because there are not too many cases hanging over his head. He has been asking for a DNAA for some time.

"Now he can concentrate on the 1MDB case,” Muhammad Shafee said at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex here.

A DNAA means an accused person can face trial for the same charges in the future if the prosecution decides to reinstate them.

In granting the DNAA order, High Court judge K. Muniandy said the rule of law was applicable to prevent such a detrimental situation whereby an accused person is saddled with criminal charges with no outcome for an indefinite and indeterminate period.

Najib was previously charged in 2019 for the present case, but trial has been indefinitely postponed since then for a myriad of reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the final appeal of his RM42 million SRC International criminal case.

The prosecution previously sought the court to grant a further extension to allow for the compilation of voluminous trial documents after indicating it was prepared to proceed with trial, following the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) recent rejection of a representation submitted by Najib two years ago.

However, Muniandy said there was nothing to show that the case can be prosecuted expeditiously in the short future and that the likelihood of further postponement of the trial is inevitable.

With today’s DNAA, Najib has only the 1MDB trial still pending.

Najib is currently imprisoned at the Kajang prison, as he is serving his jail term — now reduced to six years — after the Federal Court upheld his conviction in August 2022 over a separate criminal case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million.

He was also previously acquitted over the removal of key information from the auditor-general’s 2016 report on 1MDB; and granted a DNAA in his RM6.6 billion International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) criminal breach of trust case.