Najib, Irwan plead not guilty to six CBT charges, allowed bail of RM1 million in two sureties

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and former Treasury secretary- general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who pleaded not guilty to six counts of criminal breach of trust( CBT) involving RM6,636,065,000 belonging to the Malaysian government, were allowed bail of RM1 million in two sureties each by the Sessions Court here.

Judge Azman Ahmad also allowed Najib and Mohd Irwan Serigar to pay RM500,000 of the bail amount yesterday, with the remaining to be paid within 10 days from yesterday.

“The two accused are to surrender their international and diplomatic passports, if they have them, to the court and they are also warned against disturbing the witnesses,” he said. He set Nov 29 for mention. Earlier, former Federal Court Judge Datuk Seri Gopal SriRam, who has been appointed as senior deputy public prosecutor proposed RM3 million bail to be imposed on both the accused.

Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah pleaded for the bail amount of RM4.5 million that has been paid by his client in his previous cases to be applied in this case.

Muhammad Shafee said the bail amount of RM4.5 million against his client, who is faced with 32 charges in previous cases, was the highest in the Malaysian history.

“I also want to stress a point, that it is required to do a global assessment in lieu of other cases because this is one of the cases where a person is facing charges in various courts and bail has been set in various courts.

“My client also has no plan to leave the country because he wants to clear his name and his family name.

“My client is also involved in politics and was a former Pahang Menteri Besar, Deputy Prime Minister, Prime Minister and currently, the Pekan Member of Parliament,” he added.

Sri Ram, however, objected Muhammad Shafee’s submission to permit Najib to be released on the previous bail amount, saying that the offences are serious.

Meanwhile, counsel Datuk K Kumaraendran who represented Mohd Irwan Serigar asked for RM500,000 bail to be imposed on his client.

“The purpose of bail is not to punish the accused, but only to secure the appearance of the accused. My client also had given cooperation to the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission during the investigation,” he said adding that his client had no tendency to escape from attending the court proceedings.

Kumarendran also added that his client had held various positions in the government and had earned various awards including Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang.

Meanwhile, Sri Ram said that Mohd Irwan Serigar had benefitted from his tenure and emolument.

“He has received millions from his directorship.

“So, he’s not a Good Samaritan. This is not a tale of a Good Samaritan. He was paid handsomely or shall I say excessively.

“He is the trustee of the highest order of money in this country. In fact he is standing here before you accused of breaching its trust.

“So, he won’t have difficulty finding bailors for the RM3 million,” Sri Ram debated.

Meanwhile, another lawyer representing Mohd Irwan Serigar, Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent said the payment of salary and emolument stated by the prosecution had no relation whatsoever with the case of his client yesterday.

Geethan said the payment received by his client was valid and he did not receive any benefit from the money stated in the charge.

On the statement by Sri Ram that Mohd Irwan Serigar was not a good citizen, he said that his client was innocent until proven guilty.

“It was improper for the prosecution to make such a statement,” he pointed out.

The counsel said his client would also hand over his passport to the court and make a pledge to be present in court throughout the proceedings.

“As such, the bail amount of RM500,000 set for his client was adequate and fair,” said Geethan.

Early in the proceedings, Sri Ram had asked the prosecution for permission for all six charges faced by the two accused to be read by the court’s interpreter.

The female interpreter later read every charge one by one faced by both the accused, and asked Najib beforehand whether he understood the charges read and whether he pleaded guilty or otherwise. Najib just nodded to indicate he understood and said, “I wish to be tried.”

Mohd Irwan Serigar also nodded to indicate they understood and said “I wish to be tried”, when the court interpreter took his plea.

Both accused appeared calm while in the dock and occasionally appeared to cross their arms behind their backs.

Before the charges were read to them, Najib and Mohd Irwan Serigar were seen to chat with each other briefly.

Apart from Sri Ram, the prosecution was also assisted by deputy public prosecutors Kamal Bahrin Omar and Ahmad Sazilee Abdul Khairi.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Shafee was assisted by counsels Harvinderjit Singh, Farhan Read, Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, Rahmat Hazlan, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee and Syahirah Hanapiah.

On the other hand, Kumarendran and Geethan were assisted by lawyers Dev Kumaraendran, Lavinia Kumaraendran and Revin Kumar.