PUTRAJAYA, Jan 24 — Najib Razak concluded his time on the witness stand today after 26 days of testifying in his defence against charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving alleged 1MDB funds.
His testimony began on December 2 last year, during which he spent 16 days presenting his examination-in-chief and answering re-examination questions. Additionally, he underwent 10 days of cross-examination by the prosecution.
According to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), this morning, lead counsel Shafee Abdullah informed High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the defence planned to call 25 witnesses.
In response, Sequerah remarked that he had previously been told there would be 20 witnesses.
Shafee clarified that the defence intended to call several lawyers to testify, and the witness list also included individuals such as former 1MDB directors who had accompanied Najib to a meeting with the late Saudi King Abdullah in 2010, a key event mentioned in his testimony.
Earlier, Najib reportedly told the court that he did not view himself as sufficiently experienced in the corporate sector, having only spent two years in the field before transitioning into politics. FMT reported he also maintained that there was a “positive side” to 1MDB, despite the ongoing negative publicity.
Najib is facing trial on 25 charges related to the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds, totalling RM2.28 billion, which were deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
On October 30, Sequerah ruled that Najib must enter his defence after finding that the prosecution had presented a prima facie case. The trial is set to resume on February 10.
