A Kuwaiti court case did not hear Najib Abdul Razak’s side of the story over an allegation that he signed off on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project with China in 2016 at inflated prices in return for Beijing to help pay off 1MDB’s huge debts, contended the former prime minister’s defence lawyer.

Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told Malaysiakini that the former finance minister was not part of the Middle-Eastern nation’s court proceedings that saw the conviction in absentia and sentencing of fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), and thus was unable to rebut the claim.

“I cannot comment on...