KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah were today granted discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) from all six charges in a trial involving RM6.6 billion of government funds.
High Court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin granted the order by way of the inherent powers of the court after lawyers representing both the accused wrote in their formal applications seeking a DNAA for their client.
“These are my brief grounds. First, the prosecution failed to abide by Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
”Second, the DNAA does not prejudice the prosecution as they can recharge the accused.
”Third, this case was registered in 2018 but the trial cannot proceed even when trial dates have been set many times. This is an inordinate delay,” he ruled.
Section 51A of the CPC requires the prosecution to provide the accused with certain documents before the commencement ofa trial.
In October 2018, Najib and Irwan Serigar pled not guilty to six charges of CBT amounting to RM6.6 billion in government funds, involving payments to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) that were also said to be linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
More to come
