Prosecution relied heavily on hearsay evidence against Najib, says lawyer

 

FMT:

Prosecution relied heavily

on hearsay evidence

against Najib, says lawyer

V Anbalagan

-19 Sep 2024, 02:46 PM

Shafee Abdullah argues that the evidence given by several prosecution witnesses was calculated to prejudice Najib Razak and deny him a fair trial.

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Najib Razak is charged with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: 

The prosecution has not been able to establish a prima facie case against Najib Razak for abuse of power and money laundering as it relies heavily on hearsay evidence from key witnesses, the High Court heard today.

Continuing his submission at the close of the prosecution’s case, defence counsel Shafee Abdullah said this was particularly evident in the testimony of Najib’s former special officer, Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, who gave evidence five years ago.

He said the witness’s testimony implicating the accused was largely centred on what Najib’s principal private secretary, Azlin Alias, and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, told Amhari.

This witness claimed that Azlin and Jho Low were acting on Najib’s behalf, but these individuals cannot confirm the veracity of his testimony as one has passed away and the other’s whereabouts are unknown,

 said Shafee.

Azlin was killed in a helicopter crash in 2015, while Low is still at large and the subject of an Interpol red notice.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should have located Jho Low for the prosecution to jointly charge him with Najib or be a witness,

 he said.

Shafee submitted that Amhari was not a reliable witness and lacked credibility.

During cross-examination, he admitted to taking a bribe from Jho Low,

 the lawyer said, adding that Amhari sought to absolve himself of wrongdoing while pinning the blame on Najib.

Shafee said the testimonies of at least four other witnesses – former 1MDB chief executive officers Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Hazem Abdul Rahman, former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir and 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo – were similarly peppered with hearsay evidence.

A portion of their evidence should be expunged because it is inadmissible and does not come within the exceptions in the Evidence Act,

 he said.

He said the testimonies of these witnesses amounted to 

terrible hearsay

 and was calculated to prejudice Najib.

“Where is the direct evidence to say that it has got to do with my client?

They were saying that they heard it from Azlin that Najib gave Jho Low authority to act on 1MDB matters,

 he said.

Shafee said the court should not deprive itself the opportunity of ascertaining the veracity of the oral evidence adduced from the witnesses.

“My client was not given a fair trial when hearsay testimonies were introduced.

The prosecution has offered their witnesses (in the event the defence called) but their failure to call material witnesses has left a gap in their case,

 he said.

Najib is charged with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.