Arul Kanda denies reports that he’s happy to testify against Najib

Arul Kanda denies reports that he’s happy to testify against Najib



Arul Kanda Kandasamy


KUALA LUMPUR — June 14, 2022: Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy has denied media reports which suggested that he was eager to testify in court against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

His lawyer Datuk N Sivananthan said in a statement today it appeared that certain statements in court by Arul Kanda during the 1MDB audit tempering trial had been taken out of context by certain media outlets to imply that he was happily turning into a prosecution witness .

Sivananthan stressed that his client remains a co-accused in the case even though he may be called as a prosecution witness.

He added that Arul Kanda’s position has always been the same since the start of the case, whereby he voluntarily cooperated and provided investigators with all information within his knowledge.

“His position then and his position now is that he should never have been charged.

“In that context, should the judge decide that he is to become a prosecution witness, then in that situation he is prepared to give evidence consistent with the statements he had previously given to the MACC,” said the statement.

The prosecution want to call Arul Kanda as a witness because he was privy to relevant conversations that he may have had with Najib.

Najib’s defence has opposed the bid, arguing that it was being done in bad faith and was an abuse of process.

The High Court will decide on this on June 24.