Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak on Tuesday failed in his bid to remove the chief justice from a panel presiding over his final appeal to set aside a corruption conviction and 12-year jail sentence over a case linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Having rejected Najib’s last gasp effort to forestall a final verdict, the Federal Court began to deliver its judgment. Najib’s lawyer filed a court application late on Monday to remove Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat from a five-member panel hearing his appeal, citing “a real danger of bias” due to social media comments made by her husband in 2018 that were critical of Najib.After deliberation, the chief justice declined the request, saying the Facebook post was made even before charges were brought against Najib in 2018. “Simply put, there is absolutely no nexus between the Facebook post and the current appeal,” she said.
Addressing the court from the dock, Najib said he was the victim of an injustice, while requesting for another two months for his new lawyers to prepare for his appeal. “It’s the worst feeling to have to realize that the might of the judiciary is pinned against me in the most unfair manner,” Najib said. Critics, including the prosecution, say Najib has repeatedly tried to delay closure of the case, which was first brought on in 2018. Najib changed his legal team just three weeks before the final appeals process began last week. His lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik tried to quit last week, saying he did not have enough time to prepare, but the court refused to discharge him. Though the appeal hearing is scheduled to go on until Friday, prosecutors wrapped up their arguments last week and Najib’s lawyers declined to present their submissions, again citing insufficient time to prepare. Najib, 69, was found guilty in July 2020 of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The former premier, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and a 210 million ringgit ($46.84 million) fine. Prosecutors have said some $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB — co-founded by Najib during his first year as prime minister in 2009.
Investigators say they had traced more than $1 billion of 1MDB money to accounts linked to Najib.
The wide-ranging scandal has implicated officials and financial institutions around the world, and prompted the US Department of Justice to open what became its biggest kleptocracy investigation.
Najib, who faces several trials over the allegations, has consistently denied wrongdoing.
In his submissions, Najib listed 94 reasons why he should be acquitted, including that lower courts had erred in some of their findings. Prosecutors have said Najib was aware that the funds received in his account were proceeds from “an unlawful activity,” and had exercised his position as prime minister, finance minister and adviser to SRC International to obtain the funds.