Prosecution asks for RM3mil bail each, as Najib, Irwan plead not guilty

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah have pleaded not guilty to six charges of criminal breach of trust involving RM6.6bil at the Sessions Court.

The charges were read out before Judge Azman Ahmad, to which both of them pleaded not guilty on Thursday (Oct 25).

Najib and Dr Mohd Irwan are jointly charged with six counts of CBT under Section 409 of the Penal Code.

The first two charges were activities said to have been committed on Dec 21, 2016 involving RM1.2bil and RM655mil.

In the third charge, Najib and Dr Mohd Irwan allegedly committed CBT on Aug 3, 2017 over RM220mil, which was an allocation for administration expenses for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The fourth charge involves an amount of RM1.3bil allocation for subsidy and cash aids, allegedly committed on Aug 10, 2017.

The fifth and sixth charges were for committing CBT on Aug 23 and Dec 18 the same year involving an amount of RMB1.95bil (RM1.261bil) and RM2bil respectively.

Lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram requested RM3mil in bail each for Najib and Dr Mohd Irwan.

Najib's counsel Dr Muhammad Shafee is currently mitigating, saying that his client had already paid RM4.5mil in bail for his previous 32 charges, an amount which could be "highest in the history of Malaysia".

"A bail's only criteria is to ensure his attendance and nothing else. It cannot be punitive. It cannot be oppressive.

"Do we need to oppress him further with an atrocious amount of RM3mil? The quantum of bail should not be set so high," Dr Muhammad Shafee said.