The Court of Appeal has fixed today to hear former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s application to stay the ongoing RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against him.
The former finance minister’s counsel Alaistair Brandah Norman this afternoon confirmed the Aug 25 date for the appellate court to hear the stay bid, pending disposal of Najib’s appeal to recuse 1MDB trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah from hearing the case.
“We filed the stay application (at the Court of Appeal) yesterday. The hearing of the stay bid is tomorrow,” the lawyer told Malaysiakini, adding that the proceedings would be physically in open court.
On Aug 18 before the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Sequerah dismissed Najib’s application to recuse the trial judge, on grounds that Sequerah used to be partners with 1MDB-linked former fugitive Jasmine Loo in a law firm 15 years ago.
Sequerah ruled that mere past employment is not enough to show a real danger of bias, as there was no contact between him and Loo since she left the law firm Zain & Co in 2008.
Sequerah left the firm in 2014 when he was elevated to the bench.
The judge pointed out there has been no communication, either personal or professional, between him and Loo since 2008, with Loo having been engaged as general counsel with 1MDB in 2011.
"On Loo's involvement in the case, it commenced in 2011 when she (was engaged by) 1MDB. This has nothing to do with the time I was at Zain & Co (with Loo)," Sequerah said.
He added that the defence team not only failed to show any existing personal or professional relationship between him and Loo, but it also failed to provide evidence of pecuniary or direct relationship with Loo.
The former lawyer pointed out that this was strengthened by the fact that he was in the law firm's litigation department then, while Loo was in a separate department of the firm that deals with corporate matters.
Sequerah also denied lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s application to stay the trial pending disposal of Najib’s appeal to the Court of Appeal to recuse the judge.
Previously during the hearing of the recusal bid, Shafee submitted there was a perception of risk of bias on Sequerah’s part, who was a partner in Zain & Co when Loo was made a partner in 2004.
However, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar countered that Loo was only involved with 1MDB in 2011, which was three years after she left the law firm in 2008.
Last month, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that Loo was arrested following her surrender to the Malaysian authorities after many years on the run.
25 charges
In relation to the ongoing trial before Sequerah, Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, the accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013. - Mkini
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