Najib Abdul Razak claimed he was denied a fair trial in the RM42 million SRC International case where he was found guilty.
The former prime minister raised this allegation in his petition of appeal against his conviction and sentencing over one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), and three counts of money laundering.
On July 28, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found Najib guilty of all seven charges, and meted out a 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine against the accused.
However, the same court allowed a stay of execution of the sentence, pending the accused’s appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Najib’s lawyers from law firm Messrs Shafee & Co filed the petition of appeal dated Oct 19. The court filing contained a total of 307 grounds for appeal.
According to a copy of the petition of appeal, Najib was allegedly denied a fair trial due to errors committed by Nazlan as a judge and the alleged acts of the prosecution, among others.
“On a whole, the appellant (Najib) will submit that the errors by the High Court judge and the acts of the prosecution which had denied the appellant’s right under the Federal Constitution, caused serious injustice (ketidakadilan) against the appellant when he failed to get a trial that is fair and just representation,” the cause papers claimed.
Najib claimed that Nazlan erred multiple times in law and fact.
This included Nazlan's rejection of the defence’s contention that 1MDB-linked businessperson Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, had hoodwinked the accused in relation to transfers of millions of ringgit into his (Najib) bank account.
“The Honourable High Court judge had erred in fact and/or law when rejecting the appellant’s defence that Jho Low had duped him (Najib),” the appellant claimed.
Najib alleged that Nazlan also erred in fact and/or law when dismissing the defence’s contention of the donation from the Saudi royal family into the appellant’s bank account.
“The Honourable High Court judge had erred in fact and/or law when rejecting the appellant’s defence regarding the donation from (late Saudi ruler) King Abdullah,” he claimed.
The former premier alleged that the judge had erred when making the finding that the former knew about the transfer of RM42 million of SRC‘s funds into his (Najib) account.
He claimed that Nazlan made errors in fact and/or law when inaccurately summing up the defence’s contention, and which did not give a comprehensive (secara menyeluruh) overview of the defence’s position and contentions.
Apart from that, Najib claimed that the sudden change of judge presiding over the SRC case, from Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak to Nazlan in 2018, was done without reasonable cause.
“In this petition, the appellant is challenging the sudden change of judge because there is no element of bona fide (good faith) and among others, it gives a picture of interference of those from the higher echelons of the judiciary,” Najib claimed.
On July 27, 2018, it was reported that Nazlan had been assigned to preside over Najib’s RM42 million SRC case, taking over from Mohd Sofian.
When contacted today, Najib’s defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh confirmed the petition of appeal as having 307 grounds as well as the document’s date of Oct 19.
On Oct 1 this year, the Court of Appeal Registry fixed 12 days from Feb 15 for the hearing of Najib’s appeal to quash the SRC conviction and the related custodial sentence and fine. - Mkini
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