KUALA LUMPUR – The prosecution team’s request to have former 1Malaysia Development Bhd chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy take the witness stand against Datuk Seri Najib Razak shows the former played a peripheral role in the case, said Arul Kanda’s lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan.
Sivananthan made the deduction after his client, a co-accused alongside Najib, was ordered to testify in the national sovereign fund’s audit report trial.
Speaking to The Vibes, Sivananthan noted how the prosecution had clearly stated that it wanted Arul Kanda to fill in some of the gaps of the events that transpired in February 2016, when a 1MDB audit report was supposedly tampered with.
This, the legal eagle said, suggested that any evidence that Arul Kanda has would prove to be crucial in the case against Najib.
“And from my client’s perspective, the fact that the prosecution made an application to use him as a witness also suggests that in their view, his role in this particular case is negligible or minimal.”
Earlier yesterday, high court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan allowed the prosecution’s bid to call Arul Kanda to testify against Najib after finding the application to be in order.
Sivananthan said he sees this as a positive development, noting that Arul Kanda could be acquitted and discharged if the judge is satisfied with his oral evidence.
“The judge will have to determine at the end of the prosecution’s case if he has made full discovery of all matters he was aware of.
“It doesn’t mean it must benefit the prosecution, just that he must be telling the truth.
“For all we know, his testimony may even be beneficial for Najib. But as long as he gives the whole truth, he is entitled to a certificate of indemnity, automatically resulting in his acquittal,” he said.
Sivananthan added that Arul Kanda is set to take the stand again on July 4, but said he is uncertain if the latter will be required to testify again in the future.
Arul Kanda, 46, is the second last prosecution witness in the trial.
Najib, 68, was previously charged with abusing his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final report prior to it being presented to the Public Accounts Committee to avoid any action being taken against him.
Arul Kanda, on the other hand, was charged with abetting the former prime minister in making the amendments, supposedly to protect the latter from being subjected to action.
The offence allegedly took place at the Prime Minister’s Department Complex, Federal Government Administrative Centre, Federal Territory of Putrajaya between February 22 and 26, 2016.
Both of them were charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
This is the first time a co-accused has been granted approval by the court to testify for the prosecution since the MACC Act came into force in 2009, and only the third time in the country’s legal history.
Among Arul Kanda’s testimonies in court yesterday include a claim that the reason he was ordered by Najib to attend a meeting on February 24, 2016 to discuss amendments to the 1MDB audit report was because the Pekan MP was, among other things, worried that the document would be spun politically.
FMT also reported him as saying that he was instructed to attend a separate meeting in December 2015 to explain the company’s position and its audit report, just weeks before it was presented to the PAC.
Among those present, Arul Kanda said, include then PAC chairman Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin and two other members of the committee. – The Vibes, June 25, 2022
