Najib's trial on 1MDB starts today, after almost four months of postponement

KUALA LUMPUR: After being postponed for almost four months, the trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's case involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds will begin in the High Court this morning.

The trial before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will continue with the 10th prosecution witness, former 1MDB chief executive officer Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman who will be cross-examined by counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who is leading the defence team.

Mohd Hazem, 47, began testifying on Sept 14 last year.

Najib, 67, was charged with four counts of abusing his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The court set Jan 4 to 7, Jan 25 to 27; Feb 2 to 4, Feb 8 to 11, Feb 15 to 18; April 5 to 8, April 19 to 22, April 26 to 28, May 3 to 6, May 17 to 20, May 24 to 27; June 1 to 3, June 8 to 10, June 21 to 24, June 28 to June 30, and July 5 to 8 for the trial of the case.

Before this, media personnel were required to take a special pass to enter the open court and two video rooms known as ‘video links’ which featured live trials.

However, since the COVID-19 pandemic in March 19 last year, the court management has limited the number of media representatives in the open court and video rooms to 10 people each.

-- BERNAMA