PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth is calling for the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to “ensure justice” for former prime minister Najib Razak who recently had his review application for his SRC International conviction and sentencing dismissed.
The wing’s chief, Akmal Saleh said an RCI was needed following the dissenting judgment by Federal Court judge Abdul Rahman Sebli, Sinar Harian reported.
Akmal said based on the arguments put forward by Rahman, it was “clear” that the former Pekan MP had been denied justice.
“We want an RCI set up. We do not seek a (royal) pardon, nor do we want him to seek one,” he was quoted as saying, referring to reports that Najib was looking to use the dissenting judgment to support his application for a royal pardon.
“We hope the government will hear us out.”
On March 31, Rahman released a 78-page minority judgment, which stated that Najib had no legal representation when a Federal Court panel heard and dismissed his appeal in the SRC corruption case.
Rahman, who is the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, was a member of a five-panel Federal Court bench which heard Najib’s application for a review of the court’s decision to dismiss his appeal in the SRC case.
He said the refusal by the court to grant an adjournment on the main appeals “had defeated altogether (Najib’s) right to be represented by an effective counsel”.
However, the four other judges felt there was nothing wrong in the earlier court’s decision.
Najib was convicted in July 2020 on charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust over SRC funds amounting to RM42 million.
He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million. He began serving his prison term on Aug 23, 2022, after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal, followed by the Federal Court upholding the original conviction and sentence. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.