Shafee: Najib’s testimony misinterpreted, ex-PM still believes RM42m was Saudi donation
Najib’s lead defence lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. — Picture by Yusof Isa
Friday, 23 Jan 2026 1:36 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continues to believe, even today, that it was Saudi Arabia which donated all the money he had received in the past, including the RM42 million that resulted in his conviction in the SRC trial, his lawyer claimed.
Najib’s lead defence lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, today claimed that the media had “misunderstood” and “misreported” what his client testified yesterday in SRC International Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd’s ongoing civil suit against the former PM.
Shafee said that the media had reported that Najib had recently learned that the RM42 million he had received was not actually from Arab donations, but had come indirectly from SRC and 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) corporate social responsibility (CSR) contractor, Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.
Shafee said that Najib, however, insisted that he only knows the money was a donation.
“What is clear and explained today is that Datuk Seri Najib from the start received this Arab money, no knowledge at all except that this money is from Saudi Arabia as donation from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and his knowledge about this matter exists from the past until the hearing,” Shafee said at a press conference in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur court complex, which was streamed live on Najib’s Facebook page.
Najib has been testifying this week in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, where SRC and Gandingan Mentari sued him to recover the RM42 million that had previously entered his personal bank accounts.
Shafee claimed that Najib had only been “accommodating” questions from SRC’s lawyer in this civil lawsuit, and that he was allegedly only acknowledging the court’s decision in the SRC criminal trial, which found that the RM42 million was not a Saudi donation.
“He answered, if based on the court’s decision, that is another matter, but in his knowledge, to this day, he believes the money that he received — all of it, not just the RM42 million — all that he received is money or donations from Saudi Arabia.
“But he never said that he had abandoned what he believed, as donations from Saudi Arabia,” Shafee said.
He claimed that the media had not reported Najib’s alleged testimony in the SRC civil suit, that “nevertheless my belief and my knowledge has always been from the beginning until now that the money came from donation of Saudi Arabia”.
Yesterday, Najib was reported to have agreed with SRC’s lawyer, Kwan Will Sen, that the truth in his mind now is that the RM42 million has nothing to do with the Saudi donation.
In verbatim quotes, Najib reportedly agreed by saying: “Based on subsequent knowledge, yes.”
The same news reports, however, did mention Najib as having said that he had believed “at that particular time” that the RM42 million was a Saudi donation.
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The Najib SRC criminal case cannot be relitigated any more. It has already been appealed to Federal Court level and Najib found guilty.
ReplyDeleteThere is no media "misinterpretation ".
The Civil Case before the High Court is SRC suing Najib fornthe stolen funds, which he has already been convicted beyond reasonable doubt.