News by Adam Aziz

The interim gag order expires today, and the application to extend the interim court directive was heard before a new High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

Najib claimed that Rewcastle-Brown's reporting is prejudicial against him.

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).

He claimed the transfer may also taint public perception towards the credibility of the two judges involved — Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak and his replacement, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

This will give the defence ample time to read the prosecution’s submission documents — judge

The three charges, read before Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi, involved three separate sums of RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million respectively.

This is the second time Najib was questioned by the anti-graft agency – the first was on May 24 when the former premier was questioned for more than six hours over the same issue.

In a statement today, Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd has called the seizure as “troubling”, considering it was done despite opposition by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which is the custodian of the yacht, pursuant to an order from the Central District of California.

It is unclear whether Najib will be questioned over new sets of charges involving troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) or regarding existing charges against him in relation to funds owned by SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Star Media, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, said the High Court's decision on July 23 stands and the two banks are therefore required to release payment under the bank guarantee to the company within five working days from July 23.