Case management for Najib’s bid to bring new evidence in SRC case rescheduled

Case management for former prime minister Najib Razak’s application to adduce additional evidence in his SRC International case to nullify the trial that saw him sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million has been rescheduled to June 30.

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

The additional evidence Najib sought to adduce relates to the recent discovery that the trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was in 2006 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 on June 7, Najib’s counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Nazlan had failed to disclose his position in Maybank Group, 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 was relevant to the issues before the High Court and Court of Appeal and would be relevant to his appeals which will be adjudicated in the Federal Court.

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

On July 28, 2020, Nazlan, then a High Court judge and now a Court of Appeal judge, found Najib guilty of seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.

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

A three-member panel dismissed Najib’s appeal at the Appeals Court on Dec 8 last year, following which the Pekan MP appealed 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.