Najib arrives at High Court for gag order hearing

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 10): Former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pictured) arrived at the Kuala Lumpur High Court at 8:52am today for the hearing on his application for a gag order to prevent the public from discussing the merits of his court case and criminal charges, so as to avoid a trial by media.

At the same time, Najib is also at the court to fix the date of the trial related to seven charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power, which was allegedly linked to the RM42 million of funds at SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of the troubled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD).

Since 2012, SRC International has been transferred under the Ministry of Finance Inc.

Najib was accompanied by his two children, Nooryana Najwa Najib and Noorashman Najib, while his supporters were not seen within the vicinity of the court complex.

The hearing of the application for the gag order and the fixing of the trial date was heard before High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Mohd Nazlan replaces High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak, who was ordered to be transferred to a new civil court, after it was discovered that he is the brother of a prominent Umno politician and Pahang state executive council member Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abdul Razak.

Najib's defense team is led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, while the prosecution team is led by Datuk Hanafiah Zakaria and Manoj Kurup.

If the gag order is approved, Muhammad Shafee is requesting the High Court to cite the public and media for contempt of court

Najib has consistently denied all the allegations and had previously pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and has asked for a trial. — theedgemarkets.com

For more stories, download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.