The former prime minister and former Finance Ministry secretary-general of the Treasury were jointly accused of committing all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex, Putrajaya, between Dec 21, 2016, and Dec 18, 2017.
They were jointly charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code - in their capacity as finance minister and Treasury secretary-general entrusted with public money belonging to the government - with committing CBT.
While the public expected the prosecution was always ready to proceed with the trial, to their utter disappointment and frustration, both the accused were instead granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by the learned trial judge.
It goes without saying that both have never been declared not guilty by the court. Of course, they are entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court. For the time being, they have merely been conferred a temporary release because of such a DNAA order.
To be fair to Najib and Irwan...