KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed to obtain a permanent stay on the proceedings of his criminal breach of trust case with Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, involving RM6.6bil in payment to International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).
High Court judge Justice Muhammad Jamil Hussin dismissed the stay application on the grounds that Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had not filed a formal application.
“The prosecution must be given an opportunity to file an affidavit,” the judge said here yesterday.
At the outset of the proceedings earlier, Muhammad Shafee applied for the permanent stay of the proceedings, claiming his client would not receive a fair trial due to the prosecution’s failure to declassify important documents in the case.
“If Najib is directed to proceed with the trial, it will amount to an abuse of court process,” the lawyer said.
Muhammad Shafee also applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), as an alternative.
He said the sheer volume of cases Najib has to face has stretched the defence team thin.
“He is appearing in court every week. We are equally ‘carpet-bombed’ preparing for cases, some of which are unusually difficult to handle,” he added.
Datuk K. Kumaraendran, who represented Mohd Irwan, had also applied for a DNAA for his client.
“Your lordship has fixed the date for hearing, but we are unable to proceed because most of the important documents were not given to us, and we are not able to conduct a fair trial.
“This is the third time we are requesting for a DNAA because the court has given ample time for the prosecution.
“Looking at the circumstances, I pray for the court to grant my client an order of DNAA,” he said.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi told the court that the prosecution has no control over the declassification of confidential documents that would be used in the trial.
The documents involved are from Cabinet meetings, the Finance Ministry, the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry and the Transport Ministry.
The court then fixed tomorrow for further submissions on the DNAA application.
Justice Muhammad Jamil instructed parties to prepare arguments on whether the court has the authority to grant a DNAA without an application from the prosecution.
On Oct 25, 2018, Najib, 71, and Mohd Irwan Serigar, 67, pleaded not guilty to six charges of CBT amounting to RM6.6bil in government funds involving payments to the Ipic.
Najib and Mohd Irwan are jointly accused of committing all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex, Putrajaya between Dec 21, 2016 and Dec 18, 2017.
They were charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same Code, which provides for a maximum of 20 years’ jail, whipping and a fine upon conviction.
