Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul informed Justice K Muniandy that the attorney-general had rejected Najib’s representations during case management today.

However, the prosecution sought a later trial date to allow them time to gather documents previously used in Najib’s RM42 million SRC case and to prepare witness statements.

“A total of 807 exhibits were tendered in the earlier SRC trial before Justice Nazlan Ghazali, and many of those exhibits are needed for the present trial.

“A formal request will be made to retrieve them from the High Court registry,” he said.

In reply, Najib’s counsel Shafee Abdullah suggested that the court grant his client a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) to avoid burdening the court’s schedule and allow the prosecution time to prepare their case.

Shafee said the documents related to SRC were scattered across various courts, including the Federal Court and certain civil proceedings.

“A DNAA is appropriate here given the uncertain timeline for trial readiness.

“The accused should not be made to wait indefinitely for a fixed trial date,” he said.

Muniandy then asked Ashrof if the DNAA would prejudice the prosecution, to which the latter replied: “Legally, it would not.”

The court fixed June 20 for a decision on the DNAA application.

Najib, 71, had asked for the three money laundering charges, brought against him in February 2019, to be withdrawn.

In a later case which began on April 3, 2019, Najib was slapped with seven charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million in SRC funds.

On July 28, 2020, the High Court convicted the former prime minister of all seven charges. His appeals from conviction and sentence were dismissed by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021 and the Federal Court on Aug 23, 2022.

He received a partial pardon in January last year and is currently serving a reduced six-year prison term.