PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s highest court upheld former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence for corruption in 1MDB financial scandal. “We find appeal devoid of any merits. We find conviction and sentence to be safe,” Chief Justice Maimun Tuan Mat said on behalf of a five-judge panel.

“Based on foregoing, it is our unanimous view that evidence led during trial points overwhelmingly to guilt on all seven charges.” Maimun said, “It would have been a travesty of justice of highest order if any reasonable tribunal, faced with such evidence staring it in face, were to find that appellant is not guilty of seven charges preferred against him.” Federal Court decision was handed down after tribunal threw out a last-minute move by Najib’s lawyers to recuse chief justice from hearing case, alleging bias on her part. Najib is a UK-educated son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers who had been groomed for prime minister’s post from a young age.

A lower court in July 2020 found Najib guilty of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust over transfer of 42 million ringgit ($10.1 million) from SRC International, a former unit of state fund 1MDB to his personal bank account. An appellate court in December denied his appeal, prompting him to go to Federal Court for a final recourse.–Agencies

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 24 2022

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