[ad_1]
There will be at least eight months of waiting before Najib Razak, the former disgraced Prime Minister of Malaysia, is tried for breach of trust and corruption related to the 1MDB state fund that He helped set up. On Wednesday, images of the Kuala Lumpur High Court seized the 64-year-old leader who became the country's first national leader to face charges in court.
Najib, dressed in a relaxed cut suit when he was brought into the court complex after spending a night in a cell after his arrest.
WATCH: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Arrested for Corruption
He pleaded not guilty to three charges of criminal breach of trust and to a charge of abuse of authority with respect to SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB. Each indictment is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment
Najib Razak of Malaysia is sentenced to 20 years in prison
. He was released Wednesday afternoon after his two sons posted half of the bond. (US $ 247,000). His trial is expected to begin next February.
Prosecutors in the United States, one of the jurisdictions investigating wrongdoing at 1MDB, said $ 4.5 billion had been stolen, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions calling the case "kleptocracy" .
Mahathir Mohamad, Najib's 92-year-old rival mentor, who won a superb victory over his protégé in the May 9 legislative elections, believes that there is evidence that the former leader embezzled funds. from 1MDB. Najib claimed that Mahathir demanded "political revenge" against him.
Here are four key questions surrounding the largest court case in Malaysian history.
WHAT IS NAJIB ACCUSED OF?
The charges against Najib up to now relate to SRC International, a subsidiary of 1MDB established in 2011 to invest in overseas energy resources.
Three charges of breach of trust accuse Najib of siphoning 27 million ringgit, 5 million ringgit and 10 million ringgit
He was also charged under the Commission Act the country's anti-corruption for using its prime minister position for "gratifications" in the form of bribes worth 42 million ringgit. The prosecution claims that this abuse of power occurred when Najib influenced the government's decision to guarantee a loan of 4 billion ringgit to the SRC International through the KWAP civil servants pension fund.
Ignoring the 1MDB scandal "caused the Umno fall in Malaysia"
The charges against Najib would be similar to those written by former Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail in June 2015 – before being unceremoniously removed by Najib.
Abdul Gani On July 28, 2015, Najib fired five cabinet ministers from the MACC anti-corruption agency and five ministers announced that the magnitude of losses at 1MDB and the transfer of US $ 700 million from fund to Najib's personal stories
Abdul Gani at the time supported the government's official position that he had taken early retirement for health reasons. He is now part of a working group appointed by Mahathir to investigate the 1MDB scandal
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
High Court Judge Sophian Abdul Razak Imposed "Attorney General Tommy Thomas would have been" caught off guard "by the gag order, asked by Najib's chief attorney, Shafee Abdullah, claiming that his chambers would "vigorously"
The trial is to be held from February 18 to 29, from March 4 to 8 and from March 11 to 15.
Thomas said the charges laid Wednesday were based on the first set of investigation documents handed to prosecutors three weeks later. since. "
Investigations also continue on the 273 million US dollars worth of jewelery, watches, bags and money seized in the properties of Najib as part of the". 1MDB survey.
Najib said most items were gifts, and money was political donations. At a press conference last week, the head of the national commercial crime, Amar Singh said the police were likely to question Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor about the seizure.The two have already been interviewed by anti-corruption investigators
WHAT IS IN -IL OF ROSMAH?
A key unanswered question is whether prosecutors will sue Rosmah.
Rosmah, Najib Riza Aziz's step, as well as Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, his former vice- Prime Minister, were all questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission [1965] 9002] 
The Wall Street Journal In June, people familiar with the 1MDB's investigations stated that it was possible for Rosmah to be charged alongside her husband .
According to the report, interviews with investigators and Rosmah's relatives described him as "a political force and a central actor in scandal" on 1MDB.
He also said that it was Rosmah who introduced the Malaysian businessman Jho Low to Najib. Low is sought after by international authorities including Singapore for its alleged role in the 1MDB scandal
The former first unofficial lady of Malaysia has also been put forward due to the sheer scale of the objects of luxury seized by the police in the properties of Najib [19659002] 
Among the objects were 14 tiaras, 567 handbags, 423 watches, 234 pairs of sunglasses, 2,200 rings, 1,400 necklaces, 2 100 bracelets, 2,800 pairs of earrings and 1,600 pins. Online, many compared it to the former Filipino First Imelda Marcos
Rosmah Mansor: from the "first lady" of Malaysia to the "backpack"
BATTLE LEGAL TITANIA
Najib's trial in February will pave the way for a clash between two of the biggest names in the Malaysian legal sector: Attorney General Tommy Thomas and Najib Shafee Abdullah's chief attorney
Thomas, 66, is widely regarded as one of the country's major constituents.
His appointment by Mahathir ruffled feathers in the Malayan national organization of Najib (Umno) because of the party's long-standing practice – ruling for six decades until May 9 – of naming a Malay ethnic group. as Attorney General. Thomas is of Indian origin.
He was a lawyer for 42 years and represented prestigious clients, including reformist icon Anwar Ibrahim during his second trial for sodomy – which took place during the Najib era.
Anwar, the de facto leader of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, currently in power, has not escaped prison despite the recruitment of great lawyers like Thomas. He insists that the charges of sodomy against him in 1998 and later in the 2000s were fabricated to keep him out of politics.
In the other corner of the ring, Shafee Abdullah as "Umno's Lawyer" because of his reputation of having accepted clients from the Malaysia's big party
The former deputy prosecutor was hired by the government to be the chief prosecutor in Anwar's second trial for sodomy
. February 2016 will revive a fierce rivalry between the two lawyers.
In 2016, Shafee lost a defamation suit against Thomas and two other lawyers for their attempt to file a motion at the Malaysian Bar Council to censure Shafee on his professional conduct as a result of the Anwar Trial. Ibrahim
The petition had, among other things, accused Shafee of publishing business he had won – a practice prohibited by the profession.
[ad_2]
Source link
