Najib Razak is a victim of a conspiracy that involved Low Taek Jho and former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, as well as rogue bankers, the defence said in its closing submission today.
Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the Kuala Lumpur High Court the defence’s case proved to be more complicated than expected due to the number of personalities involved and “prejudice” the former prime minister suffered by virtue of his position.
“It is important to remind this court that when we appeared before Yang Arif, we did express our worry about the kind of prejudice that this case was going to receive, both in the public (and private) domain and that, possibly, it would creep in the judicial circle as well,” Shafee told judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
“This is a case that has become complicated simply because of the personalities involved. Namely, that there is this man with immense power who was the prime minister.
“And, therefore, I would say by virtue of the position that he was in, there’s a lot of prejudice that could be drawn against him, like some of the questions my learned friend (ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram) had raised, saying that as a man of knowledge and a man of finance, how could he not be aware of the full circumstances of the money coming into his account?
“The truth of the matter is that it has become complicated for us to produce the best defence possible. Namely because our defence, which is a defence of stating the truth, that Najib himself is a victim of (a) scam and series of misrepresentations by the likes of Jho Low and Nik Faisal and a bunch of rogue bankers, like Joanna Yu and other senior management of SRC.”
Shafee said the fact that Najib was surrounded by the people who scammed him made it easy for the public and the court to be fortified in a belief that the circumstances surrounding the former prime minister would hence deprive him of defence available to a common man.
The defence has consistently maintained that Najib was never aware of the source of the RM42 million that entered his accounts between December 2014 and February 2015, the source of which the prosecution has not been able to convincingly determine either.
Shafee said evidence showed that executives and rogue bankers carried out instructions at the behest of Jho Low for the latter’s own interest, who devised elaborate machinations to suit his own purposes that Najib was not aware of.
Later in the afternoon, Shafee applied for oral submissions to continue for another day tomorrow as one of the defence counsels supposed to submit today, Harvinderjit Singh, was unable to attend proceedings this afternoon.
Shafee assured the court that he and Harvinderjit would be able to conclude their submissions by noon tomorrow.
In allowing the application, judge Nazlan reminded the defence that if Harvinderjit was still unable to attend court tomorrow, the defence would still need to conclude their oral submissions regardless.
Nazlan had initially scheduled three days from June 1 to June 3 to hear the oral submissions by both the defence and the prosecution.
Earlier reports:
Jun 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Prosecution Say Have Proven Case Against Najib
Jun 2, Najib’s SRC Trial: Defence Discredits Ex-Minister
Jun 2, Najib’s SRC Trial: Defence Says Don’t Convict Najib Based on “Court of Public Opinion”
Jun 1, Najib’s SRC Trial: Defence Lawyers Argu It Wasn’t Najib, Blame Jho Low and Nik Faisal
Mar 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 90
Mar 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 89
Mar 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 88
Mar 9, Latheefa and Shafee Visibly Upset with Each Other
Mar 9, Apandi Stands by 2016 Statements Clearing Najib of Wrongdoing
Mar 5, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 87
Mar 4, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 86
Mar 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 85
Mar 2, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 84
Feb 27, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 83
Feb 26, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 82
Feb 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 81
Feb 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 80
Feb 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 79
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