Najib's final SRC appeal hearing to resume today

The country’s highest court is scheduled to hear submissions today from Najib Razak’s lawyer to quash the former prime minister’s conviction and sentence for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.

However, if Najib’s newly appointed lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik refuses to make any submissions, then the five-man Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat might deliver her decision on the spot or postpone it to another date.

Last Friday, Hisyam told the panel that he would not make any submissions, not even orally, to defend the former prime minister.

Tengku Maimun, who presided over the appeal with Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judges Nallini Pathmanathan, Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Mohamad Zabidin Mohd, said the court would deal with the matter today.

The prosecution led by ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram, when wrapping up its submissions on Friday, said the court could proceed to deliberate for a decision in the absence of any fresh written or oral submissions by Najib.
 
The appeal proceedings, which started on Thursday, saw Hisyam seeking to recuse himself from representing Najib. But his request was turned down by the court which then ordered the prosecution to submit.

The lawyer also told the panel that Najib had discharged his solicitors, Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew & Partners, from representing him.

He asked the court once again to postpone the hearing to Aug 25 as he had other cases on Tuesday and Wednesday, but this request also was rejected by the court.

On Aug 16, the court had dismissed Hisyam’s application to postpone the appeal hearing and ordered the appeal to proceed on Aug 18. 

On July 28, 2020, then High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Ghazali, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million. 
 
Najib is currently out on bail of RM2 million with two sureties pending his appeal.

Last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's decision and dismissed Najib’s appeal to set aside his conviction and jail sentence as well as the fine.