According to the AGC, the High Court only indicated, based on the calendar of the High Court judge, the possible dates for the trial.
“The High Court made it clear that the trial dates would only be fixed after the next mention date in court which is Aug 8, 2018,” the statement said.
The AGC said, trial dates in complex and document-heavy white collar crimes were rarely fixed on the date the accused was charged which represented the first appearance by the parties in court, and the prosecution was not expected to serve documents on that day too.
“The relevant documents will be served on the defence before commencement of trial. The prosecution team intends to apply to the High Court on Aug 8 for trial dates to be fixed in November this year,” the statement said.
The AGC said, the so-called gag order issued by the High Court upon the oral application by defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, which the prosecution team vigorously opposed, was only interim in nature.
A formal written application by the defence, supported by affidavits stating the exact nature and extent of the gag order was fixed for hearing on Aug 8. The prosecution team would oppose that application, the statement said.
On Wednesday, Najib was charged with three counts of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) and one count of abuse of power in connection with SRC International Sdn Bhd funds totalling RM42 million.
The prosecution is led by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, who is assisted by 11 deputy public prosecutors namely Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, Manoj Kurup, Suhaimi Ibrahim, Umar Saifuddin Jaafar, Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Donald Joseph Franklin, Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Sulaiman Kho Kheng Fuei, Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul and Muhammad Izzat Fauzan.
Senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee leads the defence team assisted by five lawyers namely Harvinderjit Singh, Raj Krishnan, Farhan Read, Rahmat Hazlan and Muhammad Farhan Shafee.
During the proceedings before judge Zainal Abidin Kamarudin yesterday, Muhammad Shafee applied for a gag order aimed at stopping anyone from making prejudicial statements which could impact the trial.