The hearing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s trial relating to seven corruption charges involving RM42bil in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds will proceed as scheduled on Wednesday (April 3).
This is despite the review application that Najib filed on Monday (April 1) against the Federal Court’s refusal to grant him an order to stay the trial.
When contacted, Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh said the review will be heard on Thursday (April 4).
The matter is expected to be heard before a panel at the Federal Court.
On Monday, Harvinderjit informed the High Court that Najib had filed the review application during a case mention in the former premier’s other case involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds of RM2.28bil.
On March 27, a seven-man bench chaired by Chief Justice Richard Malanjum lifted the stay of proceedings which was granted by the Court of Appeal to Najib after ruling that the appellate court had no jurisdiction over the matter.
The High Court then fixed the one-day hearing date on April 3 without fixing further dates.
Scheduled to begin before High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali at 2pm tomorrow (Apr 3), the much-anticipated, high-profile trial will see scores of journalists and photographers from local and international press agencies at the courthouse.
Court officials will issue 25 passes for local and foreign reporters in the courtroom and 20 passes for reporters in a video-link room on the fifth floor of the court complex.
Najib’s supporters are also expected to turn up to show solidarity with the former Umno leader.
The proceedings are set to begin with an opening statement, which is an outline of the evidence and facts the prosecution will try to prove.
It will be read out by Attorney-General (A-G) Tommy Thomas as the lead prosecutor in the case.
The prosecution had prepared 63 witnesses, some of whom are government officials.
Thirty-five volumes of documents comprising more than 3,000 pages have been submitted to the defence by the prosecution, which included SRC International’s meeting minutes.
The prosecution team comprises top criminal lawyers, including former Bar Council president Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah and Datuk V Sithambaram, who is co-chairman of the Malaysian Bar Criminal Law Committee.
Thomas will also be assisted by deputy public prosecutors Manoj Kurup, Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim, Donald Joseph Franklin, Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Sulaiman Kho Kheng Fuei, Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul and Muhammad Izzat Fauzan.
Najib’s defence team will be led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who was the deputy public prosecutor in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy appeal.
He is assisted by Harvinderjit, Farhan Read, Rahmat Hazlan, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, Syahirah Hanapiah and Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed.