Court says Najib Razak defense failed to raise reasonable doubt on abuse of power charge

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has failed to raise reasonable doubt over an abuse of power charge, a high court judge said tosday, in
the first trial linked to multi-billion-dollar corruption
allegations at state fund 1MDB, Reuters reports.

The judge did not immediately hand down a formal verdict and was still reading out his opinion on six other charges.

Najib faces seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power for allegedly illegally receiving
nearly US$10 million from former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) unit SRC International. He has plead not guilty.

High Court Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali said Najib's lawyers had "not succeeded in rebutting the presumption on the balance of probabilities or raising reasonable doubt on the
charge" of abuse of power.

The former prime minister, who was voted out in a historic 2018 election, faces dozens of criminal charges over allegations that US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB.

Prosecutors allege more thanUS $1 billion of the funds made its way into his personal accounts.

The former premier arrived in court to shouts of "long live Najib" by hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside.

Wearing a mask and flanked by top leaders of his party, Najib offered prayers just outside the courtroom.