Thursday, March 21, 2019

SRC case - Court allows only one of Najib’s four appeals



The Court of Appeal today dismissed three of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s four applications related to his SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption trial. 
The only appeal the court allowed was Najib’s application for the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to produce the letter of appointment for lead prosecutor Sulaiman Abdullah.
The court gave the AGC three days to produce the letter to Najib's defence team.
Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof, who led a three-member bench with Justice Lau Bee Alan and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, said they decided unanimously on all four of the appeals.
Sulaiman Abdullah
The other three appeals were for a gag order to prevent public discussion of the trial, for discovery of documents from the prosecution and third, for an order against High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali’s decision to allow the attorney-general’s withdrawal of certificates to transfer Najib's case from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
Najib’s lead counsel Shafee Abdullah informed the court that they would be filing for leave to appeal against the three dismissals at the Federal Court.
Deputy public prosecutor V Sithambaram later told reporters that the AGC also intended to file an appeal against today's ruling on providing Sulaiman’s letter of appointment.
Shafee also asked for a stay order on Najib's SRC International trial pending his leave application to the Federal Court to appeal against today's dismissals.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas objected to this saying the prosecution wanted to start the trial as soon as possible.
Najib’s co-counsel Harvinderjit Singh replied that the appeals were not a delaying tactic.
The court allowed the stay pending the leave application and stating they did not find it to be a delaying tactic.
As of Feb 8, Najib has been charged in court six times on 42 criminal charges. The former BN chairperson and Umno president has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He was first charged on July 4 last year on three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power in connection with SRC International Sdn Bhd funds totalling RM42 million. - Mkini

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