KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will step into the witness stand today to defend himself against 25 criminal charges in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial.

This includes over US$681 million (RM2.08 billion) of alleged 1MDB funds that entered his personal AmIslamic bank account.

In case you are confused, Najib was jailed because he was convicted in the SRC RM42 million case; this 1MDB trial is a separate case that is still going on, so anything the High Court decides in the 1MDB trial will not change his status as a prisoner.

Here’s a quick refresher of Najib’s 1MDB trial so far

In September 2018, Najib, then aged 65, was charged with abusing his power in three roles – as prime minister, finance minister, and 1MDB’s board of advisers’ chairman – over 1MDB matters for his own financial benefit amounting to RM2.27 billion, as well as money laundering over RM2 billion of money belonging to 1MDB.

The 1MDB trial began in August 2019, and faced disruptions along the way, due to reasons such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 235 days of trial until May 30, 2024, the prosecution brought 50 prosecution witnesses and evidence such as banking documents.

Prosecution witnesses included Najib’s former special officers; 1MDB’s former senior management (two ex-CEOs, an ex-CFO, in-house lawyer Jasmine Loo); 1MDB’s former board of directors’ members (ex-director Tan Sri Ismee Ismail and ex-chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh); various banks’ former and current officers (including AmBank ex-relationship manager Joanna Yu who was in charge of Najib’s bank accounts and AmBank’s ex-managing director Cheah Tek Kuang); a former Bank Negara Malaysia governor (Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz); a former finance minister II (Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah) and a former chief secretary to the government (Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan).

On October 30, the High Court ordered Najib to enter his defence, as it found the prosecution had shown credible evidence that the now 71-year-old must rebut if he does not want to be found guilty of the 25 charges.

Najib was given three choices, and he chose to testify on oath in the witness stand, instead of remaining silent (which would automatically result in a conviction) or give an unsworn statement from the accused’s dock (which would be given less value by the court).

So, what’s expected to happen today?

Here’s what will happen, based on the Criminal Procedure Code’s Section 181:Najib – likely through his lawyers – will read out an opening statement to the High Court, to state the facts or law that he wants to rely on to defend himself in the 1MDB trial.

In his opening statement to the court, Najib can also make comments (that he thinks are necessary) about the prosecution’s evidence.

If there’s enough time today, Najib will then start to testify as the first defence witness. This is required under Section 181: the accused person must always be the first defence witness, before they can call others in to testify as defence witnesses.

How long will Najib be in the witness stand?

It depends on how long he testifies, how long the prosecution takes to cross-examine him, and how long his own lawyers take to re-examine him or ask him to clarify his court testimony.

For example, one of the prosecution witnesses, former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, reportedly spent 40 days testifying in the 1MDB trial.

How many defence witnesses will be called?

On October 30, lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Najib will call 11 defence witnesses, but may call more, including those offered by the prosecution.

The prosecution previously offered 49 witnesses to the defence. These are witnesses which the prosecution had not called to prove its case, but which Najib can choose to call.

What happens after Najib and his defence witnesses testify?

The next step will be for Najib to sum up his defence, with both his lawyers and the prosecution to present their final arguments to the High Court.

The High Court will then decide if Najib is guilty or not.

If the High Court decides Najib has cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case, he will be acquitted.

If the High Court finds that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, he will be found guilty and then sentenced.

But all this will only come after Najib concludes his defence.

How many more days of the 1MDB trial to go?

For now, the High Court has scheduled 97 hearing days for Najib’s defence in the 1MDB trial, including today until this Friday (December 2-6) and all of next week (December 9-13).

The trial is then expected to resume in 2025 from January through to April and then continue on May 5-9; June 16-20; August 5-8, 18-22; September 8-12; October 6-10; until November 3-7.

Najib’s five criminal cases and their current status

Najib has two related criminal cases ongoing in court:

1. This RM2.27 billion 1MDB trial which he will defend himself in

2. His money laundering case over ex-1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM27 million. (Trial to start on April 21, 2025).

Three of his other criminal cases have either concluded or are no longer pending:

1. The RM42 million SRC case

Najib has been an inmate of Kajang Prison since August 2022 because of this case. The Federal Territories Pardons Board this year halved his jail sentence to six years and a RM50 million fine from RM210 million.

2. The 1MDB audit report case

In March 2023, the High Court acquitted Najib and 1MDB’s ex-CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, as the prosecution failed to prove a case for them to defend themselves against.This is final as the prosecution did not pursue an appeal within deadlines.)

3. The 1MDB-linked case of criminal breach of trust of RM6.6 billion government funds

On November 27, the High Court granted Najib and ex-Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, partly because the trial could not start due to procedural issues.

This means the trial is over for now, but the prosecution can press the same charges against them in future.