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Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak has failed in his bid to have seven corruption charges against him dismissed as his trial enters its third week.

At the start of his trial April 3, Najib challenged the criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering charges against him on grounds they lacked clarity and impeded the preparation of his defense.

Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali ruled Monday the charges would stand. He said Najib hadn't been prejudiced as his lawyers had extensively cross-examined 21 witnesses that testified so far.

The trial is the first of several against Najib, who faces 42 graft charges in one of the country's biggest criminal proceedings.