PUTRAJAYA: Trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was wrong to state that Najib Razak must be held accountable for abuse of power by using a criminal standard, the Court of Appeal heard today.
-Advertisement-
“His (Nazlan’s) desire to hold him (Najib) accountable over a criminal law is not the avenue,” defence lawyer Farhan Read submitted at the hearing of the appeal by Najib against his conviction and sentence in the SRC International corruption case.
The appeal is being heard by a three-member bench chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
Farhan said Najib, who was the prime minister from April 2009 to May 2018, should have been held accountable in a general election and that was the right forum.
As such, he said, the conviction of Najib, who is the Pekan MP, cannot be said to be safe.
“The judge’s finding to order him to enter defence is also highly prejudicial,” he said.
-Advertisement-
Najib is accused of abusing his power as the prime minister by giving government guarantees on SRC International’s RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc.
He was also charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and three money laundering charges in relation to RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former unit of 1MDB.
Last July, High Court judge Nazlan sentenced him to 12 years’ jail and ordered him to pay a RM210 million fine after finding him guilty of seven corruption charges in relation to the RM42 million belonging to SRC International.
Also on the bench are judges Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
The hearing continues.-FMT