PETALING JAYA: Attorney general Tommy Thomas has sought for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's corruption trial to be conducted in English.

Tommy, who is acting as public prosecutor, made the request to judge Zainal Abidin at the Sessions Court on Wednesday (July 4) after the charges were read out in Malay.

When taking up the post last month replacing Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Tommy had been criticised for supposedly having a weak command of Bahasa Malaysia.

Tommy himself has admitted that he had to "brush up" on his command of the national language.

"The trouble is with private practice, which I had for 42 years, dealings with clients, basically commercial clients and documents ... I have neglected my Bahasa. I promise to brush it up," he was quoted as saying.

Najib has been charged at the KL Sessions Court with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of using his position for gratification.