PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak once again failed in his attempt to obtain a gag order to prevent the media and public from discussing the merits of his case and to get additional documents to prepare for his defence.
The 66-year-old former prime minister also lost his appeal regarding the procedure taken by the attorney-general to have his case transferred from the Sessions Court to the High Court for trial.
A Federal Court seven-man bench led by Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum unanimously dismissed all three appeals.
Meanwhile, the court overturned the appellate court’s ruling which required the prosecution to produce the appointment letter of ad hoc prosecutor Sulaiman Abdullah to the defence.
In delivering the court’s decision on Najib’s appeal for additional documents, Justice Tan Sri Idrus Harun, one of the judges on the panel, said Parliament had passed Section 51 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to regulate the documents to be supplied to the defence before trial and this had been complied with by the prosecution.
He said Najib was not entitled to any further documents at this stage, adding that if Najib’s demand was be allowed, it would be tantamount to having all the investigation papers delivered to him.
The other judges sitting on the panel were Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zaharah Ibrahim, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Seri David Wong Dak Wah, Federal Court judges Tan Sri Ramly Ali, Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan.
The Court of Appeal, in March this year, dismissed the three appeals.
Najib is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust, one charge of abusing his position and three counts of money laundering over SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, amounting to RM42 million.
His trial commenced on April 3 and the prosecution had called one witness to testify that day. The trial will resume on April 15 and continue until May 10. – Bernama