PUTRAJAYA – The Federal Court has fixed next Monday for case management in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to adduce additional evidence in his SRC International Sdn Bhd case in a bid to nullify the trial in which he was convicted, sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul, when contacted, confirmed the case management date.
The case management before the Federal Court deputy registrar would be held via videoconferencing.
The additional evidence that the former prime minister sought to adduce relates to the recent discovery that the trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in 2006 was the general counsel and company secretary for the Maybank Group, where he had ultimate overall responsibility for the management and administration of all legal departments within the group.
At a press conference held on June 7, Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Nazlan had failed to disclose his positions in the Maybank Group, which was responsible for proposing the establishment of SRC International.
In his supporting affidavit, Najib said the evidence he sought to adduce was not made available to him at the trial, adding that the evidence was relevant to the issues before the high court and Court of Appeal and thus would also be relevant to his appeals that would be adjudicated in the Federal Court.
He said the fact that judge Nazlan knew of his personal involvement in the setting up of SRC International but concealed it to the defence amounts to a conflict of interest, which has led to a real danger of bias.
On July 28, 2020, judge Nazlan, the then high court judge (now a Court of Appeal judge), found Najib guilty of seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International funds.
He sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million.
Najib, the Pekan MP, lost his appeal in the Court of Appeal, which was dismissed on December 8 last year by a three-member panel led by Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, prompting the former prime minister to appeal to the Federal Court.
The Federal Court has fixed 10 days beginning August 15 to hear Najib’s final appeal against his conviction, jail sentence and fine. – Bernama, June 24, 2022
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