KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court on Wednesday dropped charges against jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak over criminal breach of trust linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of a state fund.
Najib had already been convicted in his first graft case tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, or 1MBD, scandal and began serving time in 2022 after losing his final appeal in his first graft case.
But he faces other graft trials including Wednesday's case in which he was jointly charged with ex-treasury chief Irwan Serigar Abdullah with six counts of misappropriating 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) in public funds. The money was intended as 1MDB’s settlement payment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court discharged the pair after ruling that procedural delays and prosecutors’ failure to hand over key documents were unfair to the defense, said Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan. A discharge doesn’t mean an acquittal as prosecutors reserve the right to revive charges against them, he said.
“The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years after the initial charges were brought up, which are relevant to our client’s defense preparation. Therefore the court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges,” Farhan said.
Najib set up 1MDB shortly after taking power in 2009. Investigators allege more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by his associates to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases. The scandal upended Najib’s government and he was defeated in the 2018 election.
Najib, 71, issued a rare apology in October for the scandal “under his watch” but reiterated his innocence.
Last month, he was ordered to enter his defense in another key case that ties him directly to the 1MDB scandal. The court ruled that the prosecution established its case on four charges of abuse of power to obtain over $700 million from the fund that went into Najib’s bank accounts between 2011 and 2014, and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
In addition, Najib still has another money laundering trial. His wife Rosmah Mansor and other senior government officials also face corruption charges.
Malaysian former Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, is escorted by prison officers on his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The governing party in Georgia on Wednesday picked a former soccer player as its candidate for president following a disputed victory in last month's parliamentary election that has sparked protests and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.
The Georgian Dream party nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former national team and Premier League player, for the mostly ceremonial presidential post. He is all but certain to win the Dec. 14 vote by the electoral college controlled by the ruling party.
Georgian Dream retained control of the parliament in the Oct. 26 election, widely seen as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union. The opposition said the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia seeking to keep Georgia in its orbit, and declared a boycott of parliament.
European election observers said the balloting took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.
President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results and refused to recognize the parliament’s legitimacy, on Monday snubbed the parliament's opening session along with opposition parties.
Zourabichvili, whose six-year term expires next month, was elected by popular vote, but Georgia has approved constitutional changes that abolished the direct election of the president and replaced it with a vote by a 300-seat electoral college consisting of members of parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures.
Georgian Dream has a majority in the college, making the approval of Kavelashvili's candidacy all but certain.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government. Kavelashvili was one of the bill’s authors.
On Wednesday, Ivanishvili presented Kavelashvili’s candidacy to parliament, describing him as “one of the most prominent members of our political team” and praising his “significant contribution to protecting Georgia’s national interests and strengthening the country’s sovereignty.”
Kavelashvili was a striker in the Premier League for Manchester City and in several clubs in the Swiss Super League. He was elected to parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket. In 2022, he co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which has become known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.
“Our society is divided," Kavelashvili said in parliament, charging that “radicalization and polarization" in the country has been fueled from abroad. He accused Zourabichvili of violating the constitution and declared that he would "restore the presidency to its constitutional framework.”
Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was nominated by the governing Georgian Dream party as a candidate for president of Georgia attends a news conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo)
Protesters gather in a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police block a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A protester holds a poster as they gather in a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police block protesters gathered in a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters with EU and Georgian national flags rest in a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
A woman with a EU and a Georgian national flags stands in front of police blocking a street during a rally to demand new parliamentary elections in the country, near the Parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
