CHIEF Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat will not recuse herself from hearing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s final appeal in his RM42 mil SRC International corruption case.
After hearing oral arguments in the Federal Court earlier today, Tengku Maimun ruled there was “no nexus” between a Facebook post attributed to her husband, Datuk Zamani Ibrahim, and Najib’s appeal.
She added that the Facebook post was put up long before Najib was ever charged in the High Court over the SRC International case, according to Malaysiakini.
Journalist Firdaus Azil quoted Tengku Maimun as further saying that Najib’s recusal application did not meet the threshold for “danger of bias”, citing the 1989 Australian Kaycliff v ABC case as precedent.
When she said the five-member bench was ready to rule on Najib’s final appeal in the case, Najib started to read out a written statement from the dock.
According to Malaysiakini, Najib reiterated his objections to the Federal Court about Tengku Maimun hearing the SRC International final appeal.
“Distaste and disgust”
He said the May 11, 2018, posting “clearly shows” Zamani’s “distaste and disgust” towards him, and raises a “serious question” about Tengku Maimun’s “impartiality and judicious competency” to hear his appeal.
“While I note the sentiments were raised by a spouse, it is not unreasonable to think that such sentiments are shared within the household, in a spousal relationship,” he said.
He also told the apex court that he needs more time to find a lawyer who can represent him, after his lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said he was not prepared to make oral submissions and even asked to discharge himself from representing Najib.
“If given time of at least two months, I am confident I can assemble a team to adequately represent me – perhaps with a combination of my previous counsel and Hisyam in a consolidated team,” Najib said.
Najib also repeated his claim that SRC trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was at risk of bias against him.
He claimed the evidence regarding Nazlan shows a “predisposition towards an adverse position” against him that “taints his judgment” when deciding Najib’s charges.
“He is potentially almost in a definite position to be a witness in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case, and if he had known this matter earlier, he would have been called as a court witness at our instance in the SRC trial,” he added.
Najib urged the bench to “let me have my day in court” with “proper representation”, “as opposed to my life and liberty being shortened to 12 years in prison”.
“The struggle must continue”
Najib, meanwhile, told supporters of his that the Federal Court “denied him justice” by rejecting all of his appeals to adduce new evidence and adjourn the final hearing.
“I have tried my best. What is important is that our struggle must continue.
“I did not lose, I just did not get justice,” he reportedly said outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
Najib is appealing the 2020 High Court guilty ruling against him on seven charges of power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering in the SRC International corruption case. He was also fined RM210 mil and sentenced to 12 years in jail.
The Court of Appeal, last December, dismissed his first appeal and ruled that the former finance minister’s conviction, along with the jail sentence and fine, should be upheld.
If he loses the Federal Court appeal, Najib will go straight to jail. – Aug 23, 2022
Main photo credit: Reuters
