UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has decried the rejection of former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application by the Federal Court to adduce fresh evidence in the final stage of his SRC International Sdn Bhd conviction as potentially “undermining integrity of the judiciary”.
Maintaining that UMNO has no intention to interfere in the court process, the Bagan MP said UMNO is concerned over the role of trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Ghazali who should have recused himself from presiding over the trial as he was involved in the formation of SRC International as a 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) unit.
“Nazlan’s position as general counsel and company secretary of Maybank in 2006 (till April 2015) has certainly given him great access in the administrative area of the bank,” he pointed out in a media statement issued last night (Aug 17).
“This includes how the RM42 mil which was part of the RM140 mil that Maybank loaned to Putra Perdana Development Sdn Bhd can be transferred to Najib’s account which eventually became the source of charge levelled against Najib.”
Zahid further contended that it has become a norm of global judicial ethics that any judge who finds himself to be in a position of conflict of interest – whether prior or while he was presiding over a case – to exclude himself from the hearing process let alone deciding on the case.
Nazlan has convicted Najib on seven charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust over SRC funds amounting to RM42 mil in July 2020.
Najib’s conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8 last year alongside his 12-year jail sentence and RM210 mil fine. However, Najib was released on bail pending his final appeal before the Federal Court. The appeal hearing is scheduled to proceed today (Aug 18).
“It is even worse if there has been any attempt to hide the facts of involvement related to conflicts of interest since the beginning of the judicial process,” asserted Zahid who had earlier rallied behind his UMNO predecessor by urging party members to stand in solidarity with Najib.
“UMNO insists on never interfering in court matters. Yet, we believe that justice not only must be served but it must also be seen to have been served.”
Describing Najib as the “king of social media”, Zahid said the former has done a lot for UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN), notably during the Pakatan Harapan Government’s 22-month in power by successfully deflecting a litany of attacks against UMNO.
“Even on social media Najib has responded to detractors with data and facts, and during the Sabah, Melaka and Johor state by-elections he had campaigned hard to help UMNO/BN win,” added Zahid. – Aug 18, 2022
Main pic credit: The Malaysian Reserve
