Najib Abdul Razak has been granted a 30-day extension to file a petition of appeal over his conviction and sentencing in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case.
A three-person Court of Appeal bench chaired by Court of Appeal judge Has Zanah Mehat allowed the former prime minister’s application during open court proceedings this morning.
The application for the 30-day extension of time runs from Sept 18 until Oct 18.
On Sept 22, Bernama reported that Najib’s defence team was seeking an extension of time to file the petition of appeal against the High Court decision on the RM42 million SRC International case.
Under the law, the defence has 10 days to file the petition after receiving the record of appeal.
During the Court of Appeal proceedings today, Najib’s counsel Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee said they seek the extension of time because the defence needed to peruse through voluminous documents related to the appeal.
“We seek this (extension of time) because the record of appeal is 112 volumes while the grounds of judgment (of the High Court verdict) is 801 pages.
“In the interest of substantive justice, we need time to adequately prepare the petition (of appeal),” Farhan told the court.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul then informed the bench that the prosecution has no objection to the bid.
Has Zanah (above) then issued an order as sought by the application.
The other members of the bench were Lee Swee Seng and Nordin Hassan.
Najib was exempted from attending today's proceedings.
The next case management of the appeal is set for Oct 2 before the Court of Appeal Registry.
On July 28, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur convicted Najib for one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust and three counts of money laundering involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International. The court meted a 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine.
The accused is out on a bail of RM2 million, in two sureties, pending the disposal of his appeal.
On Aug 11, the prosecution has filed a notice of appeal to increase the sentencing against Najib in the RM42 million SRC International case.
Two days ago, business news portal The Edge Markets reported that the prosecution has yet to file its own appeal petition after the deadline had lapsed.
It was learnt today that the prosecution has yet to file the related petition of appeal. - Mkini
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