FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and former treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah today failed to obtain a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) over six criminal breach of trust (CBT) charges involving RM6.6 billion.
High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin said the defence’s DNAA request was rejected and told all parties to be ready for trial on November 14.
The judge earlier said the trial which had been scheduled to begin this morning could not be continued.
The judge noted that the prosecution had yet to deliver all documents to the defence to enable Najib’s and Mohd Irwan Serigar’s lawyers to give their defence statements to the prosecution before the trial begins.
Najib’s lawyer, Farhan Shafee, and Irwan’s counsel, K Kumaraendran, had sought the DNAA on grounds that the prosecution had yet to serve on them the entire set of documents intended for use at trial.
The court had also previously allowed several adjournments as the defence teams had yet to receive the documents required for the two accused’s defence.
This is the duo’s second attempt at securing the discharge. A previous request was rejected in March 2022.
A DNAA means that the charges against Najib and Irwan can be withdrawn by the court, but the prosecution could charge them again with the same charges once the documents are in order.
On October 25, 2018, Najib, 70, and Irwan, 66, pleaded not guilty to six charges of CBT involving RM6.6 billion in government funds involving payments to International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).
The duo allegedly committed all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex in Putrajaya between December 21, 2016, and December 18, 2017.
They were charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code, which provides for a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping as well as a fine upon conviction. – July 22, 2024
