KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today the charges against him involving the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD) financial debacle were politically motivated.
The former prime minister said this in his witness statement to defend himself from all power abuse and money laundering charges involving RM2.6 billion of the company's funds.
Najib made the statement after his lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, highlighted the timing of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) decision to charge him.
The senior lawyer said that, according to MACC investigating officer Nur Aida Ariffin's testimony, Najib's statement was still being recorded by MACC when the 'izin untuk mendakwa' (consent to prosecute) was issued.
"That in and of itself speaks a lot about the motivation to file the charges against me in court. They do not seem to appear to have been made after a thorough consideration of the evidence, and it certainly could not have been made after considering what I had to say to MACC.
"This rush to charge me is yet another indication that the charges against me are politically motivated," he said before presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Najib said he was extremely prejudiced by this conscious and deliberate omission by the MACC, equally, as the former prime minister had sworn to uphold the Constitution of the country.
He said that the Federal Constitution does not support the practice of charging an individual and depriving them of their liberty, only to allow them the chance to explain themselves later during the trial through cross-examination.
"It is like blindfolding your opponent in a fistfight and declaring that it was a fair fight because he was still able to throw a few punches. This should not have happened to anyone."
Najib, 71, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.