PETALING JAYA: Newly-appointed Umno vice president Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin (pic) believes that the corruption trial of former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak will clean up the image of the party in the eyes of the people.

"As a strong believer in our democratic institutions, I believe that this is a good chance to liberate Umno from the constant barrage of negative speculation, especially in relation to SRC International," said Khaled in a statement on Wednesday (July 4).

Khaled, the former Johor mentri besar, said that Umno would cooperate fully with authorities in order to uphold the rule of law and the principles of justice.

"We believe that the country's judicial institutions will conduct a fair trial and that we will find the answer to the predicament surrounding this issue," he added.

On Wednesday, Najib was charged with misusing his position as a government official to receive a RM42mil bribe as inducement to provide a sovereign guarantee on behalf of the Malaysian Government for a loan of RM4bil from a government pension fund to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

He was also charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) in his former capacity as prime minister, finance minister and advisor emeritus of SRC International, in which he was entrusted with the RM4bil.

Najib pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

His trial will take place from Feb 18 to 28 next year.