00:00I, on behalf of my client, Dato' Sri Najib, would like to make a media statement on his behalf.
00:12And this is his heartfelt statement.
00:17Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
00:20After much reflection over the course of 26 months in prison and following significant recent developments relating to 1MDB, I have decided to make the following statement.
00:34First and foremost, it pains me every day to know that the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as Minister of Finance and Prime Minister.
00:48For that, I would like to apologise unreservedly to the Malaysian people.
00:58The recent court hearings and conviction of the Petro-Saudi executives in the Switzerland courts, as well as the recent article by The Edge,
01:11based on their analysis of the case as well as internal Petro-Saudi emails in their possession,
01:20again proves that I am not the mastermind and did not collaborate with Jolo in deceiving 1MDB of its funds.
01:34The Edge had reached a conclusion in the article that Petro-Saudi and Jolo had collaborated to deceive me,
01:46that I was not aware that Petro-Saudi was siphoning 1MDB funds.
01:54And I did not knowingly receive any money from the funds sent by 1MDB to Petro-Saudi.
02:06As hard as it is for some people to fathom or understand,
02:13I was advised and honestly believed at the time that the funds I received were political donations from Saudi Arabia.
02:26As established by court proceedings, they were indeed two confirmed large donations in 2010 from the Government of Saudi Arabia.
02:38Those were not the subject of any criminal nor civil proceedings.
02:45With the benefit of hindsight, when various parties began to question what was happening at 1MDB, I should have acted differently.
02:58I did initiate various investigations, but I was inclined to believe the explanations by the board and management.
03:08And then when I became suspicious about what was actually transpiring at 1MDB,
03:15my immediate concerns were its financial predicaments and the reciprocals to diplomatic and bilateral relations at the highest level.
03:27I have already been punished politically, but as I am clearly not the mastermind,
03:35and neither did I collaborate with JOLO, as recent events have shown, I should not be victimised legally too.
03:45I am still in deep shock, knowing now the extent of the wretched and unconscionable shenanigans and illegal things that happened at 1MDB.
04:05I deeply regret what has taken place at SRC and 1MDB.
04:12However, being held legally responsible for the things I did not initiate or knowingly enable is unfair to me.
04:26And I hope and pray that the judicial process will, in the end, prove my innocence.
04:36That is all.
04:55I hope and pray that the court proceedings against me on 30 October will be eased and I will be on the winning side, God willing.
05:10Thank you. That is all.
05:12Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
05:25Thank you for taking questions, but the statement, if you want it, I can pass it to you.
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