FORMER prime minister Najib Razak’s lawyers have rested their case in his SRC International corruption trial, with the final submission to be heard during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Presiding judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali set May 12, 13 and 18 for lawyers from the defence and the prosecution to present their oral submissions.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court will set a date for a verdict on whether Najib will be acquitted or convicted of the seven criminal charges he is facing over allegedly receiving RM42 million in funds from government-linked entity SRC International in 2014 and 2015. 

Written submissions are to be filed within six weeks by April 21, with reply submissions to be tendered by May 5.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had requested a longer deadline for written submissions, saying the defence team had to work on Najib’s other ongoing criminal trials.

Shafee added that another senior defence counsel, Harvinderjit Singh, is still under self-quarantine for suspected Covid-19 infection.

“We are also running the 1MDB case, which I’m not going to exaggerate, the issues are all over the place.

“The 1MDB case has got tentacles everywhere and is spreading over the whole world. It’s quite messy. The cross-examination itself takes the whole night to prepare, each time.”

Ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram said his team are able to prepare the written submission in four weeks, after which judge Nazlan later settled for six weeks.

The trial, which began on April 3, last year, saw 76 witnesses testify, including 57 prosecution witnesses. It has been held on 91 hearing dates.

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, who gave the opening statement in April and had lead the prosecution team, dropped out after he resigned following the change of government on February 29.

Before resting its case, the defence called their 19th and final witness today, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recording officer Regjit Singh.

Najib, dressed in a beige suit, quickly left the court room with his supporters after the hearing was adjourned. The 66-year-old did not speak to the press. – March 11, 2020.