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Key Highlights
Najib slapped with slew of ‘wrong charges’
Ten dead as navy helis collide mid-air
No glitter in PKR’s silver jubilee
Najib slapped with slew of ‘wrong charges’
Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has claimed that the 25 1MDB-related charges levelled against his client, former premier Najib Abdul Razak, are “all wrong”.
Shafee informed Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah of the defence team’s intention to challenge the legality of the criminal charges.
The lead defence counsel said the charges are defective as they involve the issue of duplicity and multiplicity.
Duplicity is when two or more offences are mentioned in a single charge. There is a legal prohibition against introducing more than one alleged offence in a single charge.
Multiplicity refers to when a single offence is charged in more than one count. The law forbids multiplicitous charges because they can result in an accused being punished more than once for the same offence, thus violating the principle of double jeopardy.
Najib, who is serving a prison sentence over his previous conviction in the SRC International case, is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering.
The matter has been on full trial since 2019, and the prosecution has yet to close the case against the former premier.
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Ten dead as navy helis collide mid-air
Ten people died after two Royal Malaysian Navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a rehearsal session in Lumut, Perak.
Three of the deceased were in a HOM (M503-3) helicopter whereas the others were in a Fennec (M502-6) chopper.
The helicopters collided during training for the 90th Naval Day celebration, which has since been called off due to the incident.
In a statement, the navy said it would form an inquiry board to establish the cause of the incident.
"The navy urges the public to not circulate videos of the incident for the sake of the (deceased's) families' sensitivities and the investigation process," it added.
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No glitter in PKR’s silver jubilee
PKR, founded by Anwar Ibrahim, celebrated its 25th anniversary over the weekend. However, its former vice-president N Surendran argued there is no reason to rejoice.
Surendran, who quit PKR in February, claimed that the party is “morally dead”.
After promising reforms for more than two decades since its inception, the former Padang Serai MP accused PKR of dishing out “excuses” after coming into power.
Surendran claimed that those who “fought and risked jail to bring PKR to power, fought for nothing”.
“It is a morally dead party, propped up by the trappings of power, focused only on staying in power,” he added.
Surendran had quit PKR after expressing disappointment with Pakatan Harapan’s “shameful silence” on the sedition probe against former DAP MP Tony Pua over his remarks about the commutation of ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak’s prison sentence and fine.
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Views that matter
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 | By R Nadeswaran |
 | By Ong Kian Ming |
Other news that matter
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Muda and PSM are scheduled to meet and discuss whether either party will field its candidate against Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has called out governments that facilitated Palestinians who wished to escape Gaza.
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