Court Of Appeal Unanimously Upholds High Court's Guilty Verdict Against Najib
The Court of Appeal asserted that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the shadow director of the investment company, SRC International.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 08 Dec 2021, 10:57 AM
The Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court's verdict against former premier Najib Razak that he is guilty of all charges in the RM42 million SRC International case
Chaired by Court of Appeal judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, the three-panel court today, 8 December, unanimously ruled that the former premier is guilty of seven charges involving abuse of power, criminal breach of trust (CBT), and money laundering.
Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera joined Abdul Karim on the bench in today's proceeding.
The Vibes reported that the conviction ruled by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 28 July last year will be upheld, asserting that Najib was the shadow director of SRC International.
The appellate court reportedly agreed with the High Court's findings that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Najib was involved in corruption.
Abdul Karim said there is no is reason to contradict High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali's verdict, reported Free Malaysia Today.
He said the claim that the money was an Arab donation is untenable.
Earlier, in another unanimous ruling, Abdul Karim said that trial judge did not commit misdirection when Najib was ordered to enter defence for all seven charges in the SRC International corruption trial
Malaysiakini reported the judge as saying that the trial judge found Najib — as then prime minister — had a personal interest when the Cabinet approved a government guarantee for RM4 billion from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) to SRC International.
Abdul Karim said Najib's involvement in the investment company was not of national interest but for personal benefit.
Instead of helping the nation, he said the result that the investment company produced was a national embarrassment.
Najib's verdict proceeding was conducted in a hybrid fashion today, with the prosecution team, led by ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram, appearing before the bench to hear the verdict
Free Malaysia Today reported that Najib and his legal team, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, would be at their respective homes or offices because one of the lawyers tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, 6 December.
Hence, other lawyers were reported as close contact with the infected person in their MySejahtera app. Defendant Najib is also under self-quarantine because of it.
