Ahead of final appeal, Najib applies to nullify SRC verdict that found him guilty over RM42m, claims judge had conflict of interest
The announcement comes ahead of the Federal Court’s scheduling hearing in August of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s final appeal against both the High Court’s guilty verdict against him and the Court of Appeal’s upholding of the guilty verdict and the jail sentence and RM210 million fine sentencing against him. — Picture by Devan Manuel
KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has today applied to the Federal Court to cancel the High Court’s decision which found him guilty over the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, claiming that the High Court judge who heard his case purportedly had a conflict of interest that may lead to a real danger of bias.
The application was announced by Najib and his lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur court complex here.
The announcement comes ahead of the Federal Court’s scheduling hearing in August of Najib’s final appeal against both the High Court’s guilty verdict against him and the Court of Appeal’s upholding of the guilty verdict and the jail sentence and RM210 million fine sentencing against him.
In the application filed today at the Federal Court to add on evidence to his SRC case, Najib is seeking for the Federal Court to allow him to add the contents of his affidavit and any other further affidavits as additional and further evidence for his SRC appeal at the Federal Court.
Najib is also asking the Federal Court to allow the adding on of the evidence given verbally in court or to be taken in court — by both former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Rosli Hussein or Rosli’s successor on matters in Najib’s affidavit — to the SRC appeals.
As part of this application, Najib is also seeking for an order from the Federal Court to declare that the entire trial in the High Court for the SRC case be declared null and void, and for the Federal Court to considering ordering a “retrial” of the SRC case against Najib.
Najib is seeking for the Federal Court to hear and decide on this application before it hears his SRC appeal, or alternatively for this application to be heard and decided as a preliminary point before the main SRC appeal starts.
After being found guilty at the High Court in July 2020 and losing his appeal at the Court of Appeal in December 2021, Najib had on December 8, 2021 filed his final appeal in the SRC case at the Federal Court.
The Federal Court had on April 29 notified both Najib’s lawyers and the prosecution that it will be hearing his SRC appeal over 10 days from August 15 to August 19, and from August 22 to August 26.
Najib had also on May 31 filed an application at the High Court to have a London-based Queen’s Counsel, Jonathan Laidlaw, be admitted as a lawyer in Peninsular Malaysia in order to represent him as his lead defence lawyer in the SRC appeal at the Federal Court.
Asked whether Najib would be seeking to have the court hear his application to bring in the UK lawyer first or to hear his application to add on new evidence to cancel the entire SRC trial at the High Court, Shafee said his client would be pursuing both at the same time.
“We are doing it simultaneously, because if the QC is admitted earlier, perhaps you may find the QC arguing this application,” Shafee said.
KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has today applied to the Federal Court to cancel the High Court’s decision which found him guilty over the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, claiming that the High Court judge who heard his case purportedly had a conflict of interest that may lead to a real danger of bias.
The application was announced by Najib and his lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur court complex here.
The announcement comes ahead of the Federal Court’s scheduling hearing in August of Najib’s final appeal against both the High Court’s guilty verdict against him and the Court of Appeal’s upholding of the guilty verdict and the jail sentence and RM210 million fine sentencing against him.
In the application filed today at the Federal Court to add on evidence to his SRC case, Najib is seeking for the Federal Court to allow him to add the contents of his affidavit and any other further affidavits as additional and further evidence for his SRC appeal at the Federal Court.
Najib is also asking the Federal Court to allow the adding on of the evidence given verbally in court or to be taken in court — by both former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Rosli Hussein or Rosli’s successor on matters in Najib’s affidavit — to the SRC appeals.
As part of this application, Najib is also seeking for an order from the Federal Court to declare that the entire trial in the High Court for the SRC case be declared null and void, and for the Federal Court to considering ordering a “retrial” of the SRC case against Najib.
Najib is seeking for the Federal Court to hear and decide on this application before it hears his SRC appeal, or alternatively for this application to be heard and decided as a preliminary point before the main SRC appeal starts.
After being found guilty at the High Court in July 2020 and losing his appeal at the Court of Appeal in December 2021, Najib had on December 8, 2021 filed his final appeal in the SRC case at the Federal Court.
The Federal Court had on April 29 notified both Najib’s lawyers and the prosecution that it will be hearing his SRC appeal over 10 days from August 15 to August 19, and from August 22 to August 26.
Najib had also on May 31 filed an application at the High Court to have a London-based Queen’s Counsel, Jonathan Laidlaw, be admitted as a lawyer in Peninsular Malaysia in order to represent him as his lead defence lawyer in the SRC appeal at the Federal Court.
Asked whether Najib would be seeking to have the court hear his application to bring in the UK lawyer first or to hear his application to add on new evidence to cancel the entire SRC trial at the High Court, Shafee said his client would be pursuing both at the same time.
“We are doing it simultaneously, because if the QC is admitted earlier, perhaps you may find the QC arguing this application,” Shafee said.
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