Najib had declined King Abdullah’s offer to give him stallions.
9.30am: Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak enters the dock.
9.33am: Former foreign minister Anifah Aman enters the witness stand to testify as the sixth defence witness in Najib’s RM42 million SRC International trial.
9.38am: Anifah, 66, begins reading out from his witness statement in examination-in-chief by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
9.45am: Anifah testifies that then minister in the prime minister’s department Jamil Khir Baharom confirmed to then premier Najib that King Abdullah wished for the donation be channelled into Najib’s personal account.
Anifah testifies he was among the Malaysian delegation at an unofficial meeting with King Abdullah at Riyadh in early January, 2010.
He confirms that among the ones in attendance were Najib, then Malaysian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Syed Omar Syed Mohammad Al Saggaf, Jamil, and himself.
“As we were exiting, the prime minister (Najib) had sought clarification from Jamil Khir regarding the confidential dialogue between him and King Abdullah as to whether he was correct in understanding that King Abdullah preferred the financial donation the King was making be transferred to Najib’s personal bank account.
“I took note of this seriously as Najib was simultaneously talking to both of us.
“Jamil confirmed the accuracy of the prime minister’s understanding.
“It was understood that King Abdullah did not want this contribution of money to be vaguely disbursed and may pose problems in their disbursement.
“Putting the money in the personal account of the prime minister would bring about easier controls,” Anifah says.
9.49am: Anifah testifies that Najib had declined King Abdullah’s offer to give him stallions after he praised the paintings of Arabian stallions at the Riyadh Conference Palace in Saudi Arabia.
In reading his witness testimony, Anifah testified: “Najib politely declined the offer as he does not ride horses.
“Such an offer clearly was a manifestation of the close relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.”
9.51am: Anifah wraps up reading out the full content of his witness statement.
Shafee then begins asking questions for examination-in-chief.
9.53am: Anifah describes the meeting between Najib and King Abdullah in Riyadh as an official one.
“In foreign affairs, when the meeting of two heads of state is arranged by Wisma Putra, it is considered an official meeting.”
9.58am: The High Court allows DPP V Sithambaram’s application for a one-hour break.
Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allows this when the DPP says that the prosecution was only served with a copy of Anifah’s witness statement around 2am this morning.
Sithambaram says that the prosecution needs this time to prepare questions for cross-examination of Anifah.
11.10am: Proceedings resume.
11.13am: Anifah testifies he is not aware whether Jho Low has more clout with the Saudi royal family.
Sithambaram is asking Anifah about Najib’s past testimony that Jho Low has a lot of influence with the Saudi royal family, to the extent that Low allegedly arranged not only an official meeting between Najib and King Abdullah but also the alleged Saudi royal family donation to Najib’s personal account.
Anifah tells Sithambaram that he is not aware of Low having allegedly arranged the official meeting between Najib and King Abdullah in January 2010.
11.25am: Anifah testifies that King Abdullah made the offer of financial donation to Najib during an official meeting between Jan 13 to 16, 2010.
This differs from two previous defence witnesses’ testimony on the matter.
Earlier witnesses, Syed Omar and Jamil testified that King Abdullah made the offer to Najib on Jan 11, 2010.
The two witnesses said that the offer was made at the sidelines of an unofficial meeting between Najib and King Abdullah at Riyadh, before an official visit by Malaysia to Saudi Arabia on Jan 13, 2010.
Sithambaram: The offer (by King Abdullah) to make this financial donation was made during the Jan 13 to 16 (2010) meeting?
Anifah: Yes.
To a question from Sithambaram whether there was any unofficial meeting between Najib and King Abdullah before Jan 13, 2010, Anifah says he has no knowledge of any such meeting.
11.36am: Anifah testifies that King Abdullah’s promise of a financial donation to Najib was not raised in cabinet because it was a personal donation.
He agrees with Sithambaram’s assertion that King Abdullah’s promise of a financial donation was not discussed in the Dewan Rakyat.
12.13pm: An Australian handwriting expert’s report on Najib’s signatures on key SRC documents can be ready latest by Feb 26, the High Court hears.
Shafee informs Justice Nazlan this at the end of proceedings today.
Shafee also informs the court that they will prepare a 1MDB case investigating officer, only named as Nasarudin, to testify as the seventh defence witness on Monday next week.
Nazlan then adjourns proceedings for today. Proceedings will resume on Monday.
Earlier reports:
Feb 13, Anifah Says Improper for Najib to Buy Channel Watch with Saudi Donation
Feb 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 78
Feb 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 77
Feb 10, Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: Najib, Not King Abdullah Told Me About Donation
Feb 5, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 76
Feb 4, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 75
Feb 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 74
Jan 23, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 73
Jan 23, Stumbling for Answers at SRC Trial, Najib Is Schooled on Court Proceedings
Jan 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 72
Jan 22, Court Allows Najib to Call Expert to Verify Signatures
Jan 21, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 71
Jan 20, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 70
Jan 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 69
Jan 8, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 68
Jan 7, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 67
Jan 6, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 66
Jan 6, Prosecution’s Application to Impeach Najib Dismissed, Judge Ruled No Contradictions Given
Dec 20, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 65
Dec 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 64
Dec 18, Najib’s Defence Like Infamous VK Lingam’s Looks Like Me, Sounds Like Me, but Not Me
Dec 12, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 63
Dec 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 62
Dec 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 61
Dec 9, RM500K Birthday Watch for Rosmah, RM3.3M Jewellery Gift for Ex-Qatar PM’s Wife
Dec 5, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 60
Dec 3, Najb’s SRC Trial: Day 59
Dec 3, Najib’s Day in Court
Aug 27, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 58
Aug 23, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 57
Aug 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 56
Aug 20, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 55
Aug 19, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 54
Aug 14, SRC Trial Postponed as Najib Down with Sore Eyes
Aug 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 52
Aug 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 51
Aug 7, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 50
Aug 6, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 49
Aug 5, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 48
Aug 1, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 47
July 31, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 46
July 29, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 45
July 25, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 44
July 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 43 Vacated
July 23, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 42
July 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 41
July 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 40
July 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 39
July 16, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 38
July 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 37
July 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 36
July 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 35
July 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 34
July 8, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 33
July 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 32
July 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 31
July 1, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 30
June 20, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 29
June 19, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 28
June 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 27
June 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 26
June 14, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 25
June 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 24
June 12, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 23
June 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 22
June 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 21
May 28, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 20
May 27, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 19
May 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 18
May 14, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 17
May 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 16
May 8, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 15
May 7, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 14
May 7, Najib Fails in Second Bid to Remove Sri Ram as 1MDB Lead Prosecutor
May 7, Najib Signed Guarantee Letter for RM2B KWAP Loan to SRC, KWAP Rules Breached
May 6, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 13
May 2, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 12
May 2, RM1M Golden Handshake in Final Month as PM for Najib
Apr 30, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 11
Apr 29, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 10
Apr 29, Court Throws Out Najib’s Application to Strike Out 7 SRC Charges, Trial to Go On
Apr 25, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Nine
Apr 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Eight
Apr 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Seven
Apr 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Six
Apr 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Five
Apr 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Four
Apr 16, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Three
Apr 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Two
Apr 3, Najib Trial: Day One