Who would have known about Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest, asks Shahrir

 

Shahrir Samad says the alleged conflict of interest in the SRC International case is a ‘sad indictment’ of the justice system. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: An Umno veteran has described judge Nazlan Ghazali’s alleged conflict of interest in the SRC International case as a “sad indictment of the country’s justice system”.

In a Facebook post, Shahrir Samad said it was as if the facts, whether true or false, no longer mattered.

The former Johor Bahru MP was commenting on Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah’s comments over its purported silence on Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest, an issue that was recently raised by former prime minister Najib Razak’s defence.

Cheah had said it was “misconceived” to expect the Bar Council to ask for Nazlan’s recusal when even Najib’s legal counsel claimed he was only made aware of the alleged conflict of interest recently.

“No one knew, including the defence. The Bar Council also did not know. So, who knew?” Shahrir said in his post.

“Who is able to apply to exempt judge Nazlan from the SRC court hearings? And who has the ability to recuse him?

“At the end of the day, it is a matter of integrity.”

Najib has cited Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest in his bid to nullify his conviction in the High Court. He has instructed his legal team to apply to adduce new evidence in his appeal, which is being heard before the Federal Court.

Najib’s application comes in the wake of reports that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened an investigation into an unexplained sum of more than RM1 million in Nazlan’s bank account.

Nazlan has denied the allegations and lodged a police report.

Najib’s lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, has also claimed that Nazlan had failed to disclose his role, involvement or knowledge in the setting up of SRC International when he served as the general counsel and company secretary for the Maybank Group. - FMT