Case management in Najib's bid to adduce additional evidence rescheduled to Thursday

PUTRAJAYA: Case management for former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to adduce additional evidence in his SRC International Sdn Bhd case to nullify the trial that saw him sentenced to 12 years' jail and fined RM210 million, has been rescheduled to Thursday (June 30).

When contacted by Bernama, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul confirmed the that case management, which was initially fixed for today, has been rescheduled and would be held before Federal Court deputy registrar Siti Hajar Mustaffa via video conferencing at 3 pm, June 30.

The additional evidence Najib sought to adduce relates to the recent discovery that the trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in 2006 was the general counsel and company secretary for Maybank Group, which had the ultimate overall responsibility for the management and administration of all legal departments within the entire group.

In a press conference held on June 7, Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had said Mohd Nazlan had failed to disclose that he his position in Maybank Group in 2006, which was responsible for proposing the establishment of SRC International.

In his supporting affidavit, Najib said the evidence he sought to adduce was not made available to him at trial, adding that the evidence were relevant to the issues before the High Court and Court of Appeal and thus would be relevant to his appeals that would be adjudicated in the Federal Court.

He said the fact that Justice Mohd Nazlan knew of his personal involvement in the setting up of SRC International but concealed it to the defence amounts to a conflict of interest that has led to a real danger of bias.

On July 28, 2020, Justice Mohd Nazlan, then High Court judge (now Court of Appeal judge) found Najib guilty on seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International funds.

He sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million.

A three-member panel, Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil dismissed Najib's appeal at the Appeals Court on Dec 8, last year, prompting the Pekan MP to appeal to the Federal Court.

The Federal Court has fixed 10 days beginning Aug 15 for Najib's final appeal against his conviction, jail sentence and fine.

-- BERNAMA