KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today insisted that he will continue to face his criminal charges in court, despite a change in government that saw his Umno party being restored to power.

Najib, who is also the immediate past president of Umno, was asked by reporters in court how he felt.

“How do I feel? Normal,” he replied as he was walking into the Kuala Lumpur court complex’s lobby at around 2.30pm to attend his corruption trial involving seven charges over former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million.

When asked if he hoped that his case will be dropped, Najib denied this.

“No, no, I have already made my statement, we are going through the court process. That’s the only credible way,” he told reporters as he continued to walk towards the lift to head to the High Court courtroom at the fifth floor for his trial.

In a post on his Facebook page, Najib compared his own situation to that of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng who had faced a corruption case before becoming part of government after the May 2018 general election.

Najib said Lim had asked for his case to be dropped and that the latter’s case was dropped in July 2018.

In the same Facebook post, Najib claimed he does not want to be denied the right to clear his name in court and insisted that he would not want his charges dropped.

Najib is facing three separate and ongoing trials.

These trials cannot be heard simultaneously as he is required as the accused to be physically present in each case to ensure the right to fair trial.

Najib’s trial this week is over the RM42 million SRC International funds.

His other trial is in relation to 25 charges over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal and involves over RM2 billion funds, with this case scheduled to resume trial next Tuesday.

Najib also has another ongoing trial involving the alleged tampering of the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB before it could be presented to Parliament’s bipartisan watchdog Public Accounts Committee.

Umno is now part of the federal government after having thrown its support behind Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister and as part of a new coalition Perikatan Nasional under him.
 
Umno has many leaders that have been charged in court over alleged corruption cases, including Najib himself, current Umno president and former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who has similarly said he wants to clear his name in court, Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Umno supreme council members Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, and former Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
 
Last week, anti-corruption organisation Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) had expressed fears that any formation of a new government with parties who have members facing corruption charges in court such as Umno could lead to attempts to have their cases dropped.

National news agency Bernama however reported Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa as having said yesterday that the new government should not interfere in court matters or attempt to drop high-profile criminal cases against members of the ruling party, with the Umno leader also reported as saying that the legal system functions as usual although there has been a change in government.

“If we interfere by withdrawing cases of those charged, the people would say the government does not respect the law and the judicial body is not independent; so, don’t mar that concept,” Annuar had said, but was also reported saying that political-motivated cases without solid evidence should be stopped.

Annuar also reportedly said that it was up to Muhyiddin to decide whether to appoint those who are currently facing trials to be part of the new Cabinet, also reminding that a person is innocent until proven guilty.