Najib’s application to nullify conviction is about justice, says Zaid
Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has urged the Federal Court to take a serious look into Najib Razak’s application.
PETALING JAYA: A former law minister has called on the Federal Court to take a “serious look” into Najib Razak’s application to nullify his conviction in the SRC International case because of the trial judge’s alleged conflict of interest.
“If there is even a shred of evidence, and the authorities should be able to verify this quite easily, that proves there was a conflict of interest on the part of the judge who convicted Najib, then the conviction must be nullified,” Zaid Ibrahim told FMT.
“Justice must not only be done but seen to be done,” Zaid said.
If there was indeed a conflict of interest, then the trial judge, Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, should have recused himself, as did several other judges in cases pertaining to Najib.
Zaid said questions should be raised about how Nazlan was made the judge in the SRC International case, and why. He also called on the Bar Council to speak up.
Nazlan was the trial judge who convicted Najib when the SRC International case was heard at the High Court.
Najib has cited Nazlan for alleged conflict of interest and has instructed his legal team to apply to adduce new evidence in his trial.
Najib’s application comes in the wake of reports that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation about an unexplained sum of more than RM1 million in Nazlan’s bank account.
Nazlan has denied the allegations and lodged a police report on the matter.
Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah has also claimed that Nazlan had failed to disclose his role, involvement, or knowledge in the setting up of SRC International when he served as the general counsel and company secretary for the Maybank Group in 2006.
Zaid said the allegations about Nazlan, Maybank Investment, SRC and 1MDB , if true, would render him unsuitable to decide on Najib’s guilt in the SRC International case.
Zaid added: “If it is indeed proven that there was a conflict of interest, then questions need to be asked as to who put him (Nazlan) there (for the SRC International case) and why.
“People are questioning why Nazlan was chosen as the judge for the SRC trial when he was not a criminal judge.
“I think the Bar Council, which previously asked the original SRC judge, Sofian Abd Razak to recuse himself due to possible conflict of interest, should also speak up on this issue.”
Four judges have previously recused themselves in previous cases involving Najib and 1MDB or SRC.
Judicial commissioners Quay Chew Soon, Liza Chan and Adlin Abdul Majid recused themselves from a 1MDB civil suit against Najib citing a possible conflict of interest, while Mohd Arief Emran Arifin recused himself from SRC’s civil suit against Najib.
PETALING JAYA: A former law minister has called on the Federal Court to take a “serious look” into Najib Razak’s application to nullify his conviction in the SRC International case because of the trial judge’s alleged conflict of interest.
“If there is even a shred of evidence, and the authorities should be able to verify this quite easily, that proves there was a conflict of interest on the part of the judge who convicted Najib, then the conviction must be nullified,” Zaid Ibrahim told FMT.
“Justice must not only be done but seen to be done,” Zaid said.
If there was indeed a conflict of interest, then the trial judge, Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, should have recused himself, as did several other judges in cases pertaining to Najib.
Zaid said questions should be raised about how Nazlan was made the judge in the SRC International case, and why. He also called on the Bar Council to speak up.
Nazlan was the trial judge who convicted Najib when the SRC International case was heard at the High Court.
Najib has cited Nazlan for alleged conflict of interest and has instructed his legal team to apply to adduce new evidence in his trial.
Najib’s application comes in the wake of reports that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation about an unexplained sum of more than RM1 million in Nazlan’s bank account.
Nazlan has denied the allegations and lodged a police report on the matter.
Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah has also claimed that Nazlan had failed to disclose his role, involvement, or knowledge in the setting up of SRC International when he served as the general counsel and company secretary for the Maybank Group in 2006.
Zaid said the allegations about Nazlan, Maybank Investment, SRC and 1MDB , if true, would render him unsuitable to decide on Najib’s guilt in the SRC International case.
Zaid added: “If it is indeed proven that there was a conflict of interest, then questions need to be asked as to who put him (Nazlan) there (for the SRC International case) and why.
“People are questioning why Nazlan was chosen as the judge for the SRC trial when he was not a criminal judge.
“I think the Bar Council, which previously asked the original SRC judge, Sofian Abd Razak to recuse himself due to possible conflict of interest, should also speak up on this issue.”
Four judges have previously recused themselves in previous cases involving Najib and 1MDB or SRC.
Judicial commissioners Quay Chew Soon, Liza Chan and Adlin Abdul Majid recused themselves from a 1MDB civil suit against Najib citing a possible conflict of interest, while Mohd Arief Emran Arifin recused himself from SRC’s civil suit against Najib.
Zaid Ibrahim himself likely has a serious personal conflict of interest on this subject, so I don't take his pronouncements with any weight
ReplyDelete"in the wake of reports that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation".
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear, the original allegation about Judge Nazlan was made by notorious purveyor of Fake News, Malaysia Today's Raja Petra. The Najib Bozzos then screamed "an investigation must be made".
The likes of Zaid Ibrahim screaming " in the interest of justice " the allegations must be investigated by the MACC. Fair enough..
But now it is obvious the existence of the MACC investigation is being used by the Najib Bozzos as proof that Judge Nazlan is a dodgy judge.
A classic case of the Tail Wagging the Dog using circular logic
The Bar Council and the Senior Judiciary must absolutely defend against this attempt by the pro- Najib mob to interfere with and even threaten the Malaysian Judiciary in order to get their Idol off the case.