Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Tuesday, Najib Razak, the former prime minister of Malaysia , asked the chief justice to step down from ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Tuesday, Najib Razak, the former prime minister of Malaysia, asked the chief justice to step down from a panel that will hear his last appeal to overturn his corruption conviction and 12-year jail sentence in a case related to the 1MDB financial scandal. The panel will decide whether or not to overturn his conviction and sentence.
The move comes after Malaysian prosecutors finished their arguments last week. The Federal Court could give its decision on Tuesday or set a new date for its decision. The lawyers for Najib didn't give their arguments because they didn't have enough time to prepare.
On Monday, Najib's lawyer asked the court to remove Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat from a five-member panel that will hear his appeal. He said that there was "a real danger of bias" because her husband had said negative things about Najib on social media in 2018.
"Being the husband of the chairperson who is deciding my appeal, it is likely that he would have influenced the chairperson's thinking about my alleged guilt," the application, which Reuters saw, said.
The court took a break to get ready to hear the application.
Some people think that Najib's application is just another way for him to keep the top court from giving its final decision.
He switched lawyers just three weeks before the last round of appeals, which began last week. Last week, his lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, tried to quit because he said he didn't have enough time to prepare, but the court wouldn't let him go.
In July 2020, Najib, who was 69 years old at the time, was found guilty of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering for getting about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, without permission (1MDB).
Najib, who said he was innocent, was given 12 years in prison and a fine of 210 million ringgit ($46.84 million).
Prosecutors say that about $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, which Najib co-founded as premier in 2009. This is part of a wide-ranging scandal in which officials and financial institutions from all over the world are involved.
Najib has always denied doing anything wrong, even though he is being tried for it several times.
Najib said that his right to a fair trial was in danger because the court had turned down all of his requests to delay the appeal so that his new lawyers could get ready.
Before the hearings, the lawyers he had before had written a petition.
Najib gave 94 reasons why he should be freed, including the fact that some of the decisions made by lower courts were wrong.
Prosecutors have said that Najib knew the money in his account came from "illegal activity" and used his positions as prime minister, finance minister, and advisor to SRC International to get the money.
($1 = 4.4830 ringgit)
