Queen’s Counsel only proposed 4 years after Najib’s SRC case - prosecution

 

A Queen’s Counsel (QC) from the United Kingdom did not act for Najib Abdul Razak when the former prime minister’s RM42 million SRC International corruption case was brought to court in 2018, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard.

Deputy public prosecutor V Sithambaram submitted this during today’s hearing of an application to allow Jonathan Laidlaw to be temporarily admitted to the Malaysian Bar so the QC could represent Najib in the upcoming SRC appeal before the Federal Court.

The DPP submitted that the QC’s assistance is not needed when compared to Najib’s legal team led by defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (above, left), who argued for the former premier when the trial was at the High Court and all the way through the initial appeal before the Court of Appeal.

In objecting against the QC bid, Sithambaram cited a Federal Court ruling in an appeal linked to a 2006 failed attempt to temporarily allow UK lawyer Cherie Booth, who is the wife of former UK premier Tony Blair, to represent a party in a Malaysian court case.

“The appellant (Booth) was not present during the trial in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal. Thus the question is to what extent the appellant would effectively be able to assist the Federal Court?

“Surely, a foreign counsel like the appellant, lacking in local knowledge and not having handled the trial and appeal, would necessarily be disadvantaged in handling the appeals in the Federal Court,” Sithambaram quoted the ruling.

The Federal Court has set 10 days in August to hear Najib’s final appeal to quash his conviction as well as a sentence of 12 years in jail and RM210 million fine for one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), and three counts of money laundering linked to RM42 million from SRC.

On Dec 8 last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Najib’s appeal to overturn the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to find him guilty and impose the sentences.

Najib was first charged over the SRC case before the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in mid-2018. However, the matter was later transferred to the High Court for a full trial, with its verdict delivered in July 2020.

[More to come] - Mkini