Najib Abdul Razak is seeking to strengthen his application for a royal pardon based on the dissenting ruling by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli, said his lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
After the apex court last Friday dismissed the former premier’s bid to review his conviction, 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case, Shafee said the dissenting judgment opened a new avenue for his client.
Met at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex today, the senior lawyer said Rahman’s dissenting ruling has been included in the application for a royal pardon.
“Our pardon (application) is exactly what Rahman said in the judgment.
“This pardon (bid) is about the man not getting a fair trial. It (the appeal against the SRC guilty verdict and sentencing) was not even heard by the Federal Court, and they only heard the prosecution (side of the story).
“We will send Rahman’s judgment to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for (His Majesty) to read (as part of the pardon application),” he added.
While Rahman ruled that he was inclined to grant Najib an acquittal, the other members of the bench disagreed, resulting in a 4 to 1 majority verdict to dismiss the former premier’s review bid.
The other members of the bench were Federal Court judges Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Rhodzariah Bujang and Nordin Hassan as well as Court of Appeal judge Abu Bakar Jais.
Najib’s other cases
Earlier, Shafee attended proceedings before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur over Najib’s separate criminal breach of trust (CBT) case involving RM6.6 billion of government funds paid to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in relation to 1MDB.
The court adjourned the IPIC case to allow the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to decide if a letter of representation from Najib as well as co-accused and former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah should be allowed.
The letter sought for the charges to be withdrawn due to new developments.
Najib also has two other pending criminal court cases - the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial and a separate SRC International money laundering case involving RM27 million.
So far, his only legal victory against a criminal matter was in the 1MDB audit report case, in which he was granted a full acquittal. The prosecution has appealed to the Court of Appeal to reverse this outcome.
The former premier, who has served more than six months of his sentence in the Kajang Prison, is also pursuing other avenues besides the royal pardon in relation to the RM42 million SRC graft case, namely a petition before the United Nations. - Mkini
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