KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak was spotted thumbing through what appeared to be Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 14th general election (GE14) manifesto in court today, exactly a year since he led the coalition to the unprecedented loss.
The former prime minister was seen flipping through the A4-sized pamphlet of BN's GE14 manifesto while in the dock for his trial over RM42 million of former 1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd's funds.
One of the pages in the manifesto that Najib was reading carried the wallet illustration as seen on his website.
At the time Najib was seen viewing the manifesto, the 31st prosecution witness in his case, Maybank KL main branch assistant manager Halijah Abdul Wahab, was testifying.
Earlier before Najib entered the dock, an A4-sized folder or pamphlet in the dark blue colours of BN and bearing the decimated coalition’s logo was seen placed there.
This was a new addition to the customary book or two that accompanies Najib in the dock.
The book spotted today is Alastair Campbell’s Winners and How They Succeed, a title seen in the past few days of the trial.
Eyewitnesses in the court purported to Malay Mail that Najib also took a selfie from his seat in the dock, even as the trial was ongoing before High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
The alleged photography may have gone unnoticed by many who were listening to the trial proceedings and busy taking notes.
Today marks exactly one year since the last general election when BN lost unexpectedly to Pakatan Harapan.
Shortly after BN’s defeat, Najib resigned as BN chairman and Umno president.
Najib had announced the twin resignations on May 12, 2018.
Today, Umno’s Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was seen among about 10 supporters that attended Najib’s court proceedings.
This trial involves seven charges of abuse of position, criminal breach of trust, money-laundering over the RM42 million SRC International funds.
