KUALA LUMPUR: According to his lawyer, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is seeking a royal pardon as he believes he was not given a fair trial in the appeal for the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, in the pardon application submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on behalf of Najib, stated that one of the reasons for seeking the pardon was that the newly appointed legal team led by Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik did not have enough time to prepare for the appeal case in the Federal Court on Aug 23.
During the Townhall for Justice – Keadilan Sebenarnya untuk Siapa programme held on Saturday (Sept 30), Muhammad Shafee highlighted that Najib was not given the opportunity to adequately prepare for the appeal case.
Muhammad Shafee further emphasized that Hisyam, who took over as Najib’s lawyer in the SRC International corruption case, did not have sufficient time to prepare.
“This is a matter of serious concern because if it can happen to the former prime minister, it can happen to any of us,” Muhammad Shafee added.
At present, Najib is serving a 12-year sentence after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence in the SRC case.
Last year on Sept 2, the former Pekan MP had already applied for a royal pardon.
Prior to the change of legal team, Najib had sought to appoint leading UK barrister Jonathan Laidlaw to work with Shafee, but the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed the request.
Najib then replaced his entire legal team, with senior criminal lawyer Hisyam agreeing to act as lead counsel in Shafee’s place.
Initially, Najib was convicted in the High Court by Justice Nazlan Ghazali on seven counts of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering involving RM42mil in funds belonging to SRC.
The Court of Appeal upheld that conviction and sentence on Dec 8, 2021, followed by affirmation by a five-member apex court panel chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat on Aug 23 of the subsequent year.
Muhammad Shafee mentioned that Najib is also seeking assistance from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) to declare that the dismissal of his appeal by the Federal Court was unjust, flawed, and violated his basic human rights and the Federal Constitution.
He pointed out that there were significant violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Malaysia is a party.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
