Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

PUTRAJAYA (Aug 15): The prosecution has described the contents of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's six affidavits in support of his application to adduce fresh evidence in the SRC International appeal at the Federal Court as hearsay.

Ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram, replying to submissions by Najib's lawyers on Monday (Aug 15), said the former premier's bid to introduce evidence relating to trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali's purported conflict of interest is nothing but "hearsay and pure conjecture".

Najib claimed in the affidavits that he allegedly knew details of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe into Nazlan and called for the three MACC investigators to be allowed to adduce further evidence as witnesses.

He named the three MACC officers who quizzed Nazlan as Mohammad Zamri Zainul Abidin, the head of investigations and the head of anti-money laundering unit who supervised the other two officers, Asrul Ridzuan Ahmad Rustami and Noor Syazana Kamin.

Najib's lawyers also sought to re-examine the investigating officer, Senior Assistant Commissioner Rosli Hussain, and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.

In opposing the lawyers' request, Sithambaram said: "We don't know what they (the officers) are going to say. What will happen if the witnesses say something else which contradicts Najib's affidavits? Then this whole thing will be a farce."

The prosecutor said the affidavits in support of Najib's application are "self-serving" to the former premier because no one is willing to put their neck out to testify for him.

Sithambaram added that the application is "couched too widely and fails to specify with certainty the type of evidence to be adduced" and its relevance to the appeal.

Najib's contention is that while Nazlan was Maybank's general counsel and company secretary from 2006 to 2015, the bank gave a RM140 million loan to Putra Perdana Development Sdn Bhd (PPD), of which SRC was a beneficiary, and also a RM4.17 billion loan to 1MDB for the acquisition of Tanjong Energy, making the judge a potential witness in both SRC and 1MDB trials.

Sithambaram, however, said that the RM140 million loan to PPD had no connection to SRC and that the RM4.17 billion loan to 1MDB also did not involve SRC but its former parent company.

"Even if Justice Nazlan had knowledge, which has not been proven, of any of the issues relating to 1MDB or PPD, they have nothing to do with the SRC case. Justice Nazlan cannot be in a position of conflict of interest just because of Maybank's loans to 1MDB or PPD," he submitted.

He added that before the commencement of the trial, Nazlan's position in Maybank was known to everyone, and was mentioned in many news reports.

"[It] is preposterous for the applicant (Najib) to allege that Justice Nazlan's past employment with Maybank Group was a fact recently discovered or deliberately suppressed from him. It is a fact and readily available in the public domain," he said.

"Why did they not bring it up at that point?" he said.

"Most outrageously, the applicant is seeking to have his conviction and sentence declared null and void, simply based on a mere conjecture and false allegation that Justice Nazlan was biased and was in conflict of interest due to his previous employment as general counsel and company secretary to Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank)," he said.

He said Najib raising this issue now is a "desperate" attempt because he could have raised this objection in the trial at the High Court.

"The issue of the conflict of interest could have been raised during the trial but Najib chose not to raise the same as it had no validity. The applicant in a desperate attempt is now raising these unfounded allegations against a judge who cannot defend himself," he said.

Sithambaram was putting forth his submissions before a five-member bench comprising Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, and Federal Court judges Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan and Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah.

The High Court in July 2020 found Najib guilty on seven counts of abuse of power and misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC funds, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a fine of RM210 million.

Last December, the Court of Appeal upheld Najib's conviction and sentence, but the former premier appealed further at the Federal Court.

After Sithambaram finished his submissions in the apex court on Monday, Najib's lead counsel, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, requested to be allowed to reply to the prosecutor's arguments on Tuesday morning.

Tengku Maimun allowed the request and set the hearing to commence at 9.30am.

Edited ByS Kanagaraju
      Print
      Text Size
      Share