Anwar in favour of live telecast of Najib's money-laundering trial

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim is in favour of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's coming trial on money-laundering to be broadcast live.

This is because the people deserve to know the extent of money that had been "robbed", the Port Dickson MP was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.

"I leave it to the court to decide whether or not to broadcast it live.

"It has never happened before, but there is good in it because the rakyat deserve to know how much of the country's money was robbed," Anwar reportedly said.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said broadcasting Najib's trial, which commences on April 3, risks turning the proceedings into a circus.

Najib himself said broadcasting the trial live would aid transparency and ensure the ‘rule of law’ is adhered to.

An online petition calling for a live telecast of the trial has so far garnered more than 45,000 signatures.

Najib is facing a total of 42 criminal charges, 10 of which are related to SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

These include three money-laundering charges involving RM42 million, three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power.

On Feb 8, the prosecution added three more money-laundering charges against Najib for allegedly receiving illegal proceeds amounting to RM47 million on July 8, 2014.

Najib's trial was initially slated to begin on Feb 12, but had been delayed pending the disposal of several appeals filed by his lawyers.

However, the Federal Court recently set aside a stay order on proceedings, leading the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to set the April 3 trial date.

Najib is also due to face his 1MDB-related charges in the middle of next month.