Former prime minister Najib Razak has lost his bid to review his conviction and sentencing in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, which saw him being jailed for 12 years and fined RM210 million.
Najib’s appeal was dismissed in a 4-1 majority decision, meaning that he would have to serve the rest of his sentence unless he is granted a royal pardon by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, reported FMT.
The judgement was made at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya today by the panel led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli.
Others included in the panel are Federal Court judges Justices Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Rhodzariah Bujang, Nordin Hassan and Court of Appeal judge Justice Abu Bakar Jais.
Court: Najib wasn’t denied a fair trial
In reading out the judgement, Judge Vernon Ong said that Najib wasn’t denied the right to a fair trial during his SRC hearing last year, adding that his then counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik had refused to make an oral submission.
He also added that the jailed prime minister was the “author of his own misfortune”.
Back in August 2022, Najib began his sentencing at Kajang prison after he lost his appeal to overturn his conviction of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.
Since then, he has been seeking to appeal his way to freedom, including filing a petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), where his lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued that Najib was “unjustly imprisoned”.
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