MACC director who probed SRC case shocked at reduced sentence

 

Former MACC special operations director Bahri Mohd Zin, who played a prominent role in the SRC International probe, was shocked at the Pardons Board’s decision to reduce Najib Abdul Razak’s jail sentence.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Bahri said the country had adopted a backward justice system where the rich and the poor are divided based on the punishments served on them.

He questioned if the Pardons Board’s decision would set a precedent for other offenders who have been accused of corruption.

“Would the accused (Najib) be pardoned again if he is found guilty (in the other cases he is facing)?

“What would happen to other offenders who steal the government’s and the people’s money, at a much lesser scale than the accused?

“Are they not given the same rights as the accused?” Bahri (above) questioned.

Najib meeting supporters outside court, August 2022.

Bahri was one of the key figures in the MACC investigation against Najib in the SRC International case.

Back in 2015, the MACC’s investigation into the SRC case was disrupted when the police ransacked their office, arrested a number of Bahri’s officers who were part of the investigating team, and remanded the commission’s deputy public prosecutor.

Bahri, along with another senior officer Rohaizad Yaakob, was later transferred out of the MACC and placed in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He later opted for early retirement in 2017, citing his frustration over the SRC case but returned to duty in May 2018 after Pakatan Harapan came into power following the 14th general election.

The Pardons Board announced earlier today that it would slash former prime minister Najib’s jail time from 12 years to six. This means he would be released from prison on Aug 23, 2028.

The board also slashed his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.

“However, if he fails to pay up, the prison sentence on Najib will be added by a year, and he will be only released on Aug 23, 2029,” said the board in a statement.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in Kajang Prison after being convicted in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case.

The former Umno president also faces other cases, including four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB.

Bahri also wondered what the public might think of the nation’s judiciary after this decision, pointing out that the former Pekan MP still had four criminal cases pending trial in court.

“(The justice system) is seen as a dying state when there are ongoing cases that are granted DNAA (discharge not amount to acquittal).

“What more when such a decision is reached over the largest case of this century (where the accused) has not completed serving his sentence and is pending four more criminal trials.” - Mkini