Malaysia's top court denies ex-PM Najib's request for a new trial and an extension of the appeal deadline
Malaysia's ex PM Najib Razak (third from left) walks out of the federal courtroom.
FormerMalaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's final attempt to challenge a conviction and 12-year sentence imposed in July 2020 began in the nation's highest court on Tuesday, but the court rejected his request to present new evidence and call for a retrial in a corruption case related to the 1MDB financial scandal.
According to details that emerged after the conviction, Najib's attorneys claimed on Monday that Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali, the trial judge who presided over the SRC International trial, had a conflict of interest because he had been associated with a bank that did business with 1Malaysia Development Berhad. A division of 1MDB is SRC.
The five-member panel, led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, came to a unanimous conclusion on Tuesday, concluding that there had been "no miscarriage of justice" and that the court had been unable to identify any connection that would have created "a serious threat of prejudice."
Tengku Maimun read from the 20-page decision that the judges had concluded that "the entirety of the additional evidence sought to be introduced... is, in our view, irrelevant to the charges preferred against the applicant and fails to disclose any conflict of interest on the part of Justice Nazlan."
The highest court concluded after more than two hours of debate that Nazlan's function and involvement in the bank were not a secret because the facts might have been learned or obtained if the defence had exercised "due diligence."
Tengku Maimun declared, "All motions... are thus dismissed," requiring Najib's legal team to move forward with his last appeal. On Thursday, the hearing will continue.
Najib, 69, expressed his amazement and disappointment by the court's ruling.
Extensionappeal is rejected
The court also rejected the defense's request for a postponement when Najib's lead attorney, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, pleaded with the judges for additional time to prepare for the trial because the new legal team had only been established at the end of the previous month.
"The document bundles total 179. This case is not typical. Additionally, the law has strong points. Hisyam requested a three to four-month extension and warned that "serious arguments will be raised."
However, since Najib was informed of the hearing date beforehand, Justice Tengku Maimun stated that the court determined that the motion and the reasons for the delay "are neither cogent nor reasonable."
Final plea
The Federal Court set aside August 15–19 and August 23–26 to hear Najib's plea, in which his attorneys listed 94 justifications for why the verdict should be overturned. Najib will become the first prime leader of Malaysiato serve time in prison if the appeal is denied.
In July 2018, Najib was charged. He was found guilty of seven crimes, including misuse of authority, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering, involving 42 million ringgit ($9.4 million) in SRC International funds discovered in his bank accounts after a two-year trial. He received a 12-year prison term as well as a 210 million ringgit (about $47 million) fine.
(With inputs from agencies)