Sri Ram: 'Secret' documents in Najib CBT trial need to be reclassified
Thursday, 29 Nov 20187:32 PM MYT
by maizatul nazlina
KUALA LUMPUR: Documents classified as "official secrets" will be reclassified in the RM6.636bil criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who was appointed by the Attorney General’s Chambers to lead the prosecution, informed Sessions Court judge Azman Ahmad that there were several documents classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) which had to be reclassified for the trial to go on.
"All documents are there, but it takes time to reclassify," he said during case management on Thursday (Nov 29).
Earlier, Sri Ram also told Judge Azman that they were in the process of serving 224 documents, which represented between 70% and 80% of the documents, that they intended to tender in the trial.
He said in the meantime, there was an application to transfer the case to the High Court and that it has been fixed before a High Court deputy registrar for Friday (Nov 30) morning.
"We will be seeking for an early date of transfer," he said, adding that he applied for Dec 7 as the next case management date.
Judge Azman later set Dec 7 as the next case management.
Counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah acted for Najib while counsel Datuk K. Kumaraendran and Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent appeared for Dr Mohd Irwan.
On Oct 25, Najib and Dr Mohd Irwan, who were jointly charged with six counts of CBT over government funds totalling RM6.636bil, had claimed trial to the charges.
The first two charges read that Najib and Dr Mohd Irwan were entrusted with dominion over RM1.2bil and RM655mil respectively, and committed CBT over them.
The third charge alleged that the two men committed CBT over RM220mil which was allocated for administration expenses for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The money had been in the government’s Federal Consolidated Fund.
The RM1.3bil in the fourth charge was in the same fund and classified as an allocation for subsidy and cash aid.
The fifth and sixth charges were for allegedly committing CBT over 1.95 billion yuan (RM1.261bil) and RM2bil.
All the offences were allegedly committed at the Finance Ministry office in Putrajaya between Dec 21, 2016, and Dec 18, 2017.
Meanwhile, former spy chief Datuk Hasanah Ab Hamid's case was mentioned before Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad informed the court that 46 documents have been tendered.
DPP Muhamad Iskandar said among documents were a list of seized items, invoices, photographs of the exhibits and an appointment letter as Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (Meio) director-general.
Hasanah's counsel Datuk Shaharudin Ali then informed the court that his client's bank account has been frozen and that it had nothing to do with any suspicious money.
Shaharudin later applied for direct access to the account.
Judge Rozina said the prosecutor should refer to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the investigating officer on this matter.
Hasanah, 61, claimed trial to committing CBT involving US$12.1mil (RM50.3mil) of government funds at the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya between April 30 and May 9 this year.
Judge Rozina later fixed Jan 3 for mention.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/11/29/sri-ram-secret-documents-in-najib-cbt-trial-need-to-be-reclassified/#pVhZWcpBL7GtGDSW.99
