KUALA LUMPUR: The much awaited decision involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak's appeal against his corruption conviction and sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case scheduled for tomorrow may not happen after all.
The former prime minister's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has written to the registrar of the Court of Appeal to vacate not only Wednesday's date but also today's hearing which had been set for Najib's application to include fresh evidence involving his case.
Shafee sent a notice to the registrar's office late yesterday evening to vacate both dates as his son, Muhammad Farhan, had tested positive for Covid 19.
He said the entire defence team, and also Najib, had been classified as close or casual contacts with a Covid 19 positive person and the panel of judges involved in the appeal needed to be informed of it.The senior lawyer said the team only found out about the matter when one of the firm's lawyers received a call about 5.40pm yesterday that her mother had tested positive for the virus.
He said the entire legal team involved in Najib's case had come into close contact with their colleague's mother on Saturday during a celebration at their house.
"Shortly after we received news of what had happened to our colleague's mother, all the lawyers in our firm did an antigen test and Farhan tested positive in three different test kits.
"The other lawyers have tested negative for now," Shafee wrote in the notice.
He also pointed out that Najib too had come into contact with all of them yesterday as he had gone to the law firm to discuss his case.
As a result, he said, all their MySejahtera status were classified as close or casual contacts of Covid 19 victims.
Shafee said all of them were now waiting for a suitable time to undergo PCR tests.
"It is our social responsibility to inform the court about what has happened.
"We humbly pray that the court will vacate Tuesday (today) and Wednesday's dates due to this. It is not something we expected but it is our responsibility to inform the court to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the appeal hearing," he said in the notice which was also sent to the Attorney General's office.
Meanwhile, the New Straits Times (NST) has learnt that the court has not provided any response to Shafee's notification and the prosecution was prepared to proceed with today's hearing as scheduled at 9am.
Najib, 69, is appealing to quash his conviction on seven charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM42 million of SRC International funds.
The Pekan member of parliament was found guilty of all charges in July last year and High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced him to 12 years jail.
Najib was also fined RM210 million for committing the crime. - NST
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