Najib sentenced to 12-year concurrent prison term, RM210m fine

Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has sentenced Najib Abdul Razak to a total of 72 years in jail for the seven criminal charges related to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

For the abuse of power offence, he was slapped with a 12-year jail term and fined RM210 million.

For the three criminal breach of trust charges, the jail term is 10 years for each offence.

For the money laundering charges, the jail term is 10 years for each offence.

No fines were imposed for the money laundering charges.

However, the former premier would only have to serve 12 years in prison as the judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently. 

In the event of a default on the RM210 million fine - which is five times the RM42 million in gratification received by Najib - then he would be jailed five more years.

Following this, the defence succeeded in applying for a stay of execution on the both the jail term and fine pending the appeal process.

Normally, the courts do not allow a stay of execution on fines, unlike jail terms which can be rendered meaningless if a stay is not granted and an appeal is successful.

Defence counsel Mohd Shafee Abdullah submitted that the fine constituted an enormous sum and his client was unable to settle it.

Jailing him in default, he argued, could be prejudicial.

Therefore, he appealed to the judge to err on the side of caution and liberty.

Lead prosecutor V Sithambaram, however, argued that the judge could instead ask for part of the fine to be paid or at least paid in installments.

Eventually, Justice Nazlan said the defence had proven "special circumstances" for a stay on both the jail term and the fine. - Mkini