KUALA LUMPUR – Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Puad Zarkashi has called on the newly formed unity government to accelerate its probe into Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
In a Facebook post today, the Johor speaker argued that the ongoing probe cannot be allowed to be swept under the carpet.
“The new government must resolve this probe. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has issued a statement that investigations have long concluded and is awaiting instructions from the attorney-general,” he said.
Additionally, Puad noted that investigation papers involving Nazlan had already been leaked to the public with no party stepping forth to deny its authenticity, making this an unusual situation.
“When there is silence, no follow ups, no denial and no prosecution, that is what is called interference in the judicial process.
“There are things to be hidden. Which is why (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) and (Datuk Seri Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi)’s cases are presumed to be selective prosecution.
“Hopefully, the government can prosecute Nazlan soon,” he added.
In 2020, Nazlan, then a high court judge, sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million for corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
Najib’s lawyers had tried to submit evidence to suggest that Nazlan had a conflict of interest in hearing the case during the former prime minister’s appeal at the Federal Court.
However, the Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed the application on the grounds that the evidence proposed by the defence was not related to the charges against Najib. – The Vibes, December 12, 2022
