KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): The prosecution in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's second money-laundering trial involving RM27 million SRC International Sdn Bhd funds intends to call 20 to 25 witnesses to testify in the trial set for September.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin told the court this on Tuesday during a brief case mentioned before High Court judge K Muniandy.

"We intend to call 20 to 25 witnesses. We are still in the midst of preparing the witness statements," he said.

Mohd Ashrof also added that there had yet to be a decision on Najib's letter of representation sent in August last year to drop all three charges against him in this trial.

Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah once again tried to get a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for his client, arguing that the letter of representation had been pending for months, and this was not fair to the former finance minister.

"We ask the court to exercise its discretion to grant a DNAA, and then the prosecution can charge [my client] again [if they want to]," the senior lawyer told the court.

Muniandy, however, declined to do so, and told parties to stick to the trial dates set for September.

When asked by the court why the decision on the letter of representation was taking so long, Mohd Ashrof said he was not privy to the information, and that the instructions he received were to proceed with the trial.

The court then set May 27 as the next mention date, and for the witness statements to be served to the defence by May 20.

In this trial, Najib is charged with three counts of money laundering by accepting proceeds from illegal activities amounting to RM27 million through his three AmPrivate Banking accounts in July 2014.