Najib only going through due process in new evidence play: lawyers

KUALA LUMPUR – The act of filing several appeals in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bid to overturn his conviction in the RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption case has caught much attention this week. 

While it may seem like a possible attempt to buy more time to avoid facing the music, criminal lawyers observing the case have asserted that the former prime minister is not wasting judicial time as he is only going through the due process of law. 

However, criminologist Shahul Hamid is of the view that he is playing for time by submitting an appeal in the Federal Court to adduce fresh evidence in his SRC International case, which has since been dismissed by a five-man panel. 

 “He is trying to buy time. The evidence in the SRC case is complete and is sufficient to prove that he is guilty,” Shahul opined.  

 A panel of five judges, led by chief justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, delivered the unanimous decision during the hearing in the Palace of Justice yesterday afternoon.

The 68-year-old politician made the application following the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) press release last November 19 on the recovery of fund assets of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) inter alia from Singapore, whereby the Singapore government had repatriated US$15.4 million (RM64.65 million) to Malaysia relating to an account of Cutting-Edge Industries Ltd owner Datuk Tawfiq Ayman.

Tawfiq is the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz. 

Najib claimed that the evidence was not available during the SRC criminal trial before the Kuala Lumpur High Court and that the new evidence is “materially relevant” to the issues linked to the case. 

Najib, who is free on a RM2 million bail, was seeking to include new evidence and wanted to call MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki and SRC International investigating officer Rosli Hussein to testify.

In related news, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his team will be submitting an application for a retrial of the SRC International case after high court judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali’s failure to disclose his role in his previous job in 2012 as Maybank’s company secretary and group general counsel. 

Shafee said the seven charges against his client in the SRC International case could be quashed. 

This is because Nazlan was the presiding judge in Najib’s SRC trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court that commenced in April 2019 and delivered the guilty verdict in July 2020.  

He was also the judge who convicted and sentenced Najib on charges relating to funds belonging to SRC International in July 2020. 

An appeal against the conviction is pending before the Federal Court. 

However, the same cannot be said for the former Umno president’s 1MDB trial, Shahul opined. 

“I see many loopholes in 1MDB. As long as Jho Low is not brought back here, it would be a complicated case because Jho Low is the crown witness.” 

Meanwhile, lawyer Ravindran Nekoo stressed that Najib is merely exercising his right to appeal, as permitted by the law. 

The former Bar Council member is of the opinion that Najib has the right to the best possible defence as well as the right to raise every issue to advance his vindication. 

“It is not wasting judicial time. He is going through the due process of the law.  

“It is his right under the law to raise any defence and also to argue that there is evidence available,” Ravindran said.  

It is only just, he said, for Najib’s defence team to bring to light new evidence for the court to decide whether they satisfy the rules and can be accepted or otherwise.  

“If there is some evidence which was not available earlier, and later comes to light, then it is their (Najib and his legal team) right to present the new evidence to the court. 

“Whether it satisfies the legal test is for the court to decide.” 

Criminal lawyer Collin Andrew also shares Ravindran’s sentiments.  

Andrew said the role of the defence counsel in criminal cases, among others, is to challenge the prosecution’s evidence and to put forth the case to the best of their abilities. 

“Against this backdrop, as long as such applications are allowed within the law, the courts will hear and determine accordingly as it did in this case,” he said. 

In July 2020, Najib was found guilty of all seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering in the SRC case.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million for committing the offence.

Last December, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision with judge Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, pointing out that Najib’s actions on the RM4 billion loan to SRC International were not for national interest but for personal benefit.

Karim said that it had resulted in no national interest, but rather a national embarrassment.

Najib is still appealing the decision at the Federal Court. – The Vibes, March 17, 2022