PUTRAJAYA: The High Court today concluded hearing the testimony of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his defence against charges of power abuse and money laundering linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) after 26 days.
The 71-year-old former prime minister was released from the witness stand before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Najib began his testimony on Dec 2, reading from 678 pages of witness statements, after he was ordered to enter his defencemoney laundering.
Najib's lead defence counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the court they would call 25 witnesses when proceedings resume on Feb 10.
"We are calling witnesses who had met with the late Saudi ruler, King Abdullah. Other witnesses are lawyers as well as one or two directors. They will be giving oral evidence," he said.
Najib had claimed that he received a donation of US$680 million from the Saudi ruler and returned US$620 million.
Following Najib's release from the witness stand, Shafee said the defence had tendered to the court the Kuala Lumpur High Court's judgment in the acquittal and discharge of Najib and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy in the case involving the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) audit report.
https://www.nst.com.my/newy.s/crime-courts/2023/03/885419/najib-arul-kan...
Najib is charged with misappropriating billions of ringgit belonging to 1MDB.
He faces four charges of using his position to obtain RM2.3 billion in bribes from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.