KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will know on October 30 if he has to continue facing his trial over 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) RM2.2 billion funds, or if he will be acquitted and walk free of the 25 charges in this case.
Today, trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah informed both the prosecution and Najib's legal team of the decision date: “I thank parties for the well-researched and thorough submissions, both written and oral. And the decision I will deliver — on the end of the prosecution’s case — on whether to call for defence or not, on October 30.”
The judge set the High Court’s decision date after 12 days of hearing arguments by both the prosecution and the defence on whether Najib should be ordered to enter his defence in the 1MDB trial, or whether he should be acquitted at this stage of the case without having to defend himself.
This court case had started six years ago, when Najib was charged in September 2018 with four power abuse charges and 21 money laundering charges over RM2.2 billion of 1MDB funds.
The trial itself has spanned more than five years, having started on August 28, 2019.
The prosecution had called in 50 prosecution witnesses to testify in court and to establish its case against Najib, and the trial had gone on for 235 days by the time the prosecution formally closed its case on May 30, 2024.
Najib has been in prison since August 23, 2022 after having been convicted in a separate criminal trial over RM42 million of 1MDB’s former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds.
