[UPDATED] RM6.6 billion CBT case: high court dismisses DNAA bid by Najib, Irwan

KUALA LUMPUR – The high court has struck out the DNAA (discharged not amounting to acquittal) bid by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and ex-treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah in relation to six criminal breach of trust charges totalling RM6.6 billion.

Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin ruled that the bid in relation to International Petroleum Investment Company was dismissed after taking into account the prosecution is ready for the trial.

“Trial dates of 32 days has been set since last September but have been vacated at the defence’s request and without objection from the prosecution.

“An application for a discharge not amounting to acquittal under Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code can only be allowed if the prosecution does not intend to proceed with the case,” he said.

He also set April 1 to April 4, 2023, April 8 to April 11, and throughout May next year as the new trial dates.

Najib, 68, and Irwan, 63, applied for the DNAA today during the case management on the grounds that they were charged in 2018 but had not been tried until now.

Earlier, lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, representing Najib, submitted that his client had not been tried yet and the case was still pending despite him being charged four years ago.

“We also applied for several documents from the prosecution according to Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code, but they were not completed yet. Therefore, we applied for our client to be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal,” he added.

Lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran, representing Irwan, said he does not doubt the court process or the prosecution, but the case facing his client is still pending and had been mentioned 14 times in court since October 2018.

“This case has been suspended because there is no suitable hearing date as the first accused, Datuk Seri Najib, is being tried in several different courts and we have received information from his lawyer, the only available date is in 2023,” he added.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, however, objected to the application on the grounds that it was unfair for the court to allow the two accused to be discharged but not amounting to an acquittal at this stage (before the trial).

He said the prosecution is ready to conduct the case, where it had submitted documents three times under Section 51A and in accordance with the provisions of the law, the defence may submit additional documents, if any, before the trial.

“The public prosecutor represents 34 million members of the public who want to see this case go to trial. They cannot be given a DNAA just like that. We are ready to prove the charges against the two accused,” he added.

On October 24, 2018, Najib and Irwan pleaded not guilty to six charges of criminal breach of trust  amounting to RM6.6 billion in government funds involving payments to International Petroleum Investment Company.

Najib and Irwan were jointly accused of committing all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex, 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 fine upon conviction. – The Vibes, March 3, 2022