NAJIB Razak has filed an application to recuse Gopal Sri Ram from the prosecution in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd audit report tampering trial, following revelations about the lead prosecutor by former attorney-general Apandi Ali.

The application was filed by Najib’s legal team at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today. The Attorney-General’s Chambers also received the application this afternoon, said deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib.

Case management has been fast-tracked to Monday, to be heard before the trial’s presiding judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.

The new application is to disqualify Sri Ram from being a prosecutor in the case, Najib’s lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said today.

The application will be supported by two affidavits, by Najib and by Apandi, Shafee added.

“The application is a disqualification application in light of the recent revelations regarding Sri Ram in a Facebook post by Apandi on Wednesday night,” he said.

In a Facebook post, Apandi said Sri Ram tried to coax the former A-G to arrest Najib, then prime minister, for corruption in 2018, just months before the 14th general election.

Najib’s defence is expected to argue that the trial has been compromised due to political persecution, prosecutorial misconduct and bias, said a member of the legal team. 

Najib is facing trial for using his position to remove parts of the auditor-general’s final audit report on 1MDB between February 22 and 26, 2016, at the Prime Minister’s Department before it was tabled to the Public Accounts Committee, to protect himself from criminal action. 

Former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy is also on trial for abetting Najib.

Najib and Shafee have also filed separate judicial review applications to recuse Sri Ram in their other cases.

Najib seeks to recuse Sri Ram from the 1MDB trial, where the former prime minister faces 25 criminal charges involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.

Shafee wants to remove Sri Ram as a prosecutor in his trial for allegedly laundering RM9.5 million in money linked to 1MDB.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear the two applications on June 16. – June 12, 2020.