PUTRAJAYA: The lead prosecutor in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appeal hearing involving the SRC International case today rebuked defence lawyers for branding the trial judge who convicted the former prime minister as biased, hopelessly incompetent and acting as a second prosecutor.
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Datuk V Sithambaram said Najib’s lawyers had made serious, unfair and unfounded allegations against Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who could not respond even though whatever said was totally unjustified.
“Judges are just doing their judicious duty. Unfounded allegations in cases such as this which are of national interest will bring disrepute to the administration of justice.
“People read about this case everyday. They will go on thinking that judges are biased…that they are all useless and not qualified to sit. This are all very serious allegations which were uttered without any basis at all,” he said.
Sithambaram said it should be noted that lawyers cannot overstep the bounds of propriety and courtesy while representing their client.
“It is of course the duty of counsels to act fearlessly and with all the force and vigour at their disposal in the interest of their clients.
“However, they must equally remember that in the discharge of their duties they cannot abuse the privilege of appearing in court. If they overstep the lines they must be cautioned.
“In our vigour to represent our clients, we must not drag the judge into the arena of conflict or subject him to personal attacks,” he said.
Sithambaram said the Court of Appeal bench hearing Najib’s appeal must not take any notice of the defence’s contention that Nazlan’s judgment was tainted or biased, or that it was written by an incompetent judge who was complicit with the prosecution to get Najib convicted.
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“All this must be rejected.
“His judgment has considered all the law and evidence, and was made bona fide without any biasness,” he said.
Nazlan was the judge who convicted Najib, who is also former Umno president, of all seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds.
He sentenced Najib to 12 years jail and also ordered the Pekan Member of Parliament to pay RM210 million fine during the sentencing in July last year.
However, from the onset of Najib’s appeal hearing which started last Monday, his lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and others in the defence team, had some choice words for Nazlan’s findings.
It was reported that Shafee said his client should never have been ordered to enter defence against the charges, let alone to be convicted of the offences.
He accused the judge of misconstruing the concepts of law before going on to say that Nazlan was inexperienced to handle what he termed was the case of the century.
The senior counsel was later reminded by the lead judge hearing the appeal hearings to stop using words like hopelessly incompetent, poisonous judgment and blunder when arguing against Nazlan’s findings.
The hearing before Court of Appeal judges Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera continues.-NST