THE Kuala Lumpur High Court here has ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to enter his defence on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib.

“After a maximum evaluation of the evidence, I find that the prosecution has proven the ingredients of the charges,” he said.

Najib is standing trial on four counts of abuse of power and 21 of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

A total of 50 witnesses testified during the prosecution’s case, which went on for 253 hearing days between Aug 28, 2019 and May 30 this year.

Notable witnesses included former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and former 1MDB general counsel Loo Ai Swan, also known as Jasmine Loo.

Lawyer Shafee Abdullah told the court today that Najib had elected to give evidence on oath in his defence to the charges.

“He has nothing to hide,” said the lawyer.

Shafee said the defence team plans to call at least 11 witnesses, including Najib.

“We will call about 11 witnesses. But as time goes by, particularly since (the defence stage) may extend into 2025, more witnesses may be called to testify.

“Some witnesses will be put on a witness statement, like Najib…while others will be subpoenaed, meaning that they will be forced to attend,” he said in a press conference on Friday.

The judge scheduled the trial to continue on Dec 2, after co-counsel Tania Scivetti said the defence would need time to prepare.

She said Najib’s witness statement will be provided by the defence team to the prosecution later.

Earlier, Sequerah said the four abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges were not “vague” as contended by the defence, and fulfilled all legal requirements.

He said the 25 charges spelled out the dates, locations and alleged offences clearly.

“The primary objective of a (criminal) charge is to ensure an accused person has sufficient notice on what they were charged with.

“The court finds that the accused (Najib) is not prejudiced or ‘misled’ by the location (of offence),” he said.

The court also held that the credibility and integrity of certain witnesses were intact.

Najib’s lawyers had claimed that former special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Zeti and Loo were intent on framing the former prime minister through their evidence.

However, Sequerah rejected that contention.

“Some of them were candid in their testimonies that they had received gifts from Jho Low (fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho).

“Their testimonies on the accused’s role (in 1MDB) were consistent and had no motive to ‘frame’ him (Najib),” he said.