PUTRAJAYA (April 5): The Court of Appeal here today dismissed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's application to adjourn the hearing of his appeal against his conviction and sentencing with regard to the SRC International Sdn Bhd case because there were no sufficient reasons to adjourn the hearing.
Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil said Najib’s defence team, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had to make a proper written application before the court to adjourn the hearing of Najib's appeal in 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) former subsidiary SRC’s case.
"We are unanimous in this. There is no sufficient [reason] to adjourn the hearing.
"We are disallowing the application for an adjournment," Abdul Karim said.
The three-member Court of Appeal bench today included Judges Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.
The court today rejected Najib’s application to adjourn the hearing of his appeal despite Shafee indicating the need for the defence team to be granted a one-month adjournment to get relevant documents from New York and Singapore.
Shafee said the documents involve 1MDB-linked allegations faced by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz’s family.
On July 28, 2020, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million after the court found him guilty of all seven charges linked to the SRC case.
It was reported that High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found Najib guilty of all the seven charges, which included one for abuse of power involving Retirement Fund (Incorporated)’s RM4 billion loan to SRC besides three charges for criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM42 million, and money laundering.
Retirement Fund (Incorporated) is also known as Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP).
Najib is reportedly the first former prime minister in the country to be charged in the court and sentenced to jail.
Shafee said the adjournment is needed because the defence team had applied for the documents in New York besides the Kuala Lumpur High Court where Najib’s 1MDB case is being heard before High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
According to Shafee, the adjournment is needed due to reasons including problems faced by Najib and former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng to get documents crucial to the defence’s preparation in their respective cases.
Shafee gave an undertaking today that the hearing of Najib’s SRC case should proceed after a month with or without the documents.
“We have applied since November to get the documents, but this is being hindered by the US Department of Justice. When former Goldman Sachs Tim Leissner and the bank admitted to bribing 1MDB officials and affiliated companies, we thought this is relevant and wanted to find out further.
“In addition, we have also written to the Monetary Authority of Singapore over the large sum of US$16.22 million entering into the accounts of Zeti's husband and their two sons, (allegedly) from Jho Low. We have also written to the Commercial Affairs Department in Singapore regarding this allegation, and we are awaiting their reply,” the senior lawyer said.
Prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram objected to the adjournment, saying there was no formal application filed by the defence with regard to the matter.
"We seriously object to his (Najib) request for an adjournment, as what Shafee says is from a statement from the Bar,” Sithambaram said.
With the dismissal of the adjournment, the appeal's hearing progressed as scheduled.