Tuesday, July 05, 2022

I didn’t say Najib should go to jail, says Tok Mat



I didn’t say Najib should go to jail, says Tok Mat


Mohamad Hasan (left) said his remarks on Najib Razak’s SRC International corruption case were taken out of context.


PETALING JAYA: Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan has refuted a report implying that he believes former prime minister Najib Razak should go to jail.

Referring to a report by Asia Times quoting him, Mohamad said he was asked to comment on Najib’s cases, but his remarks were taken out of context.

“What I said was that Najib must get a fair trial. If he is found guilty, then he has to face the consequences, but as we know his (SRC International) case is not over yet, it is at the Federal Court. But he must get a fair trial,” Mohamad, better known as Tok Mat, told FMT.

Mohamad said he also highlighted during the interview how Najib’s resurgence was linked to the public’s perception of “selective prosecution”.

“So, if I believe Najib is not getting a fair trial, how can I say that he should go to jail? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Najib has filed an application asking the Federal Court to declare that he was denied a fair trial. He cited Court of Appeal judge Nazlan Mohd Ghazali’s alleged conflict of interest owing to his previous role as general counsel and company secretary of the Maybank Group.

Nazlan was the trial judge who convicted Najib when the SRC International case was heard in the High Court.

In his application to the Federal Court, Najib argued that Nazlan’s time in Maybank between 2006 and 2015 meant he was involved or had knowledge of the bank’s role in the setting up of SRC International, a 1MDB subsidiary.

The prosecution has said that Nazlan’s role in Maybank was irrelevant to the SRC International case.

Najib was convicted for abuse of power and misappropriation of RM42 million belonging to SRC International.

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