In an unexpected twists, a former Prime Minister will face multiple corruption charges leveled against him after his lawyers failed to convince the court otherwise.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been charged with criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power.
Since his trial began on April 4, the former PM has been shuffling in and out of court, a situation that is seen as one of its kind in the history of the Asian country of Malaysia.
Monday, Judge Mahamad Nazlan ruled that after cross-examining 21 witnesses and listening to the arguments of the former PM’s lawyers, the charges would continue as planned.
Najib had gone to court to defend himself arguing that the cases had no basis.
June, 2018, the former PM, who is the son to the country’s first Prime Minister said he was not guilty as charged.
He became Malaysia’s highest public office holder to be charged and tried in a court of law in 2018.
While campaigning for Public office in 2009, Najib vowed to correct the mistakes of the previous regimes, but backtracked on his pledges months after ascending to power.
In a protest vote, Malaysians voted out Najib, earning the country’s independence party the first loss since the country attained self-rule.