This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 3, 2020 - August 9, 2020

"The operation of Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution that all persons are equal before the law is amply demonstrated by this trial. A former prime minister is charged under due process in the ordinary court of the land, like any other Accused. The Accused is not above the law and his prosecution and this trial should serve as precedents for all future holders of this august office.”

THIS was part of the opening statement read out by then Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas on April 3, 2019, at the start of the trial of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was slapped with seven charges related to the RM42 million siphoned from SRC International Sdn Bhd to his personal bank account. This was the first of five 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-related trials that Najib has to face.

After testimonies by 57 prosecution and 19 defence witnesses, including Najib, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found Najib guilty on all charges and sentenced him to a cumulative 72 years in jail. But he will serve only 12 and has to pay a fine of RM210 million — five times the RM42 million that was stolen

This was a politically charged case as Najib was charged over what he did when he was prime minister. The previous highest-ranking official to be charged was Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998.

Compared with the rancorous Anwar trial in 1999, however, the many days of hearing in the SRC case were largely conducted in good decorum, with both the prosecution team, led by ad hoc DPP V Sithambaran, and the defence, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, very respectful of each other despite the high stakes.

Credit must especially be given to soft-spoken Justice Nazlan, who showed great patience and was very indulgent to objections and requests from the defence — a far cry from Judge Augustin Paul’s many infamous “irrelevant, irrelevant” rulings in the first Anwar trial that got defence lawyers and the public riled up.

Certainly, there were moments of drama, but evidence to support the charges against Najib was carefully and properly provided and robustly argued by both sides.

In the end, Justice Nazlan delivered what many legal experts say was a very comprehensive and detailed judgment. Of course, it is not over yet, and both Najib and Shafee have expressed confidence that they can overturn the guilty verdict at the Court of Appeal.

Till then, we say well done to all who were involved in the way they conducted themselves, given the sensitivity and emotions surrounding the trial.

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