KUALA LUMPUR:Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's daughter, Nooryana Najib, is worried that the government's goal in her father's trial is to eliminate his role as the voice of the opposition.

According to her, Najib is now seen as a very effective opposition as a check and balance on the government..

"I am worried that the government's goal in these charges and trials is not to uphold justice but to eliminate my father's outspokenness.

"Government leaders have stated that the continuity of their rule depends on the punishment on Najib.

"Therefore, the government and the prosecution will try their best to punish my father (Najib)," she said in a post on Facebook belonging to Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) Information Chief, Isham Jalil on Saturday.

She adds, for the last nine months, they have not been able to stop Najib's fight and this may be their opportunity.

"They will use all available instruments, from government media channels to political channels, to tarnish my father's image so that they can easily impose guilt on him.

"They have thrown 42 charges at my father. Only one charge is needed for technical reasons for them to keep my father quiet, a person of the strongest critics of the government.

"I do not know what will happen to my father after this trial. Is he able to continue to be patient and survive?” she questions.

On January 12 this year, the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court reportedly said that all trials and hearings of criminal cases in open courts scheduled from January 13 to 26 were postponed in line with the re-implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This has resulted in high-profile cases, including those involving the Pekan Member of Parliament and former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi being postponed due to their trial date falling during the MCO period.

However, on January 20, Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat issued a directive that although the government enforces the MCO, all criminal case proceedings, including those of public interest such as corruption and commercial crime, will continue in open court, effective January 27.