Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made a rare appearance in court on Tuesday, arriving in a wheelchair after being hospitalized the previous week due to acute knee inflammation. The sight of the 71-year-old former leader being wheeled into the courtroom surrounded by prison guards underscored the physical challenges Najib now faces as his legal battles continue to unfold.
Although he was initially in a wheelchair, Najib did not remain in it for long once inside the courtroom. With the aid of a cane, he was seen walking slowly, and the court granted permission for him to sit outside the usual dock during the proceedings. This was done to allow Najib the ability to stretch his legs, a concession made in light of his recent health complications. His ongoing trial, linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, resumed after a short break due to his hospitalization.
Najib's current legal troubles stem from charges related to the massive 1MDB corruption case. He is facing four counts of abuse of power for allegedly receiving a staggering US$620 million (RM2.27 billion) in bribes. Alongside these charges, Najib is also confronting 21 charges of money laundering. These legal proceedings have been ongoing since 2019, making this trial one of the most closely watched cases in Malaysian legal history.
The courtroom break last week occurred after Najib was admitted to Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where he received treatment for his knee. A medical expert, who has been attending to Najib, testified that the ex-PM had been suffering from acute knee inflammation, a condition that had worsened. The doctor added that Najib had been prescribed opioids to manage the pain. However, the medication also caused drowsiness, raising concerns about his ability to fully participate in the court proceedings. The doctor’s testimony further revealed that Najib had multiple health issues that required ongoing monitoring due to the medications’ side effects.
Despite the ex-prime minister’s health issues, the trial moved forward with the defense team making their case. On Tuesday, Najib's defense continued to argue that the charges he faces are flawed. The defense has consistently maintained that Najib did not impose a "top-down" approach in 1MDB, and did not compel the company’s board of directors to approve questionable transactions. According to the defense, Najib’s alleged "wishes," expressed through Minutes of Representatives (MR) and Shareholder's Special Resolution (SSR), were not instructions meant to pressure the board into approving any specific deals.
Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhrudin, one of Najib’s defense lawyers, argued that the MR and SSR were not tools used to coerce the board into signing off on the Director's Resolution Circular (DCR), which was used to greenlight key deals for 1MDB. He further claimed that any approval Najib gave via these documents came much later in the process, suggesting that the former prime minister had no direct involvement in initiating the schemes in question.
The legal team insists that Najib did not engineer the transactions for his personal gain, portraying him instead as someone who came into the process after others had already laid out the framework for the deals. This argument has been central to Najib's defense throughout the trial, as his lawyers try to dismantle the prosecution’s narrative of a leader who abused his power for personal enrichment.
Last week, the presiding judge, Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, issued a clear warning to both the defense and prosecution, informing them that October 4 would be the final date for submissions in the case. Judge Sequerah explained that he had already reviewed the extensive submissions from both sides and was in the process of re-reading them. He emphasized that there was no need for further submissions and that the court would deliver a verdict shortly after the cut-off date.
The decision that the judge will render at the end of the prosecution’s case is a critical one. It will determine whether Najib will be required to present his defense in full or whether he could potentially walk free. The trial, which began in August 2019, has now entered its sixth year, and its outcome will likely have significant implications for Malaysia’s political and legal landscape.
For now, Najib remains in the spotlight, his health issues adding another layer of complexity to an already lengthy and high-profile case. As the trial draws closer to a potential turning point, the world continues to watch how this chapter in Malaysian history will disclose.
FlyingBird is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.