NAJIB WANTS IMMEDIATE PARDON? – AND JUST BECAUSE ONE OUT OF 5 JUDGES DISAGREED? – INSTEAD, ALL THE MORE REASON THE AUTHORIES & AGONG SHOULD REFUSE TO CONSIDER SINCE 4 OUT OF 5 CONFIRMED APEX COURT CONVICTION – NAJIB MUST FOLLOW PROCESS & WAIT AT LEAST 6 YEARS!
Najib to apply for royal pardon citing dissenting judgement
KUALA LUMPUR: The dissenting judgment by Federal Court judge Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli will be used to support former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application for a Royal pardon, says his lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
According to Muhammad Shafee, the team was preparing for the royal pardon application and the minority judgment was included in it.
The pardon request stated that Najib did not receive a fair trial where he was not heard by the Federal Court but it had heard the prosecution.
Muhammad Shafee said their pardon request was “exactly what Justice Abdul Rahman said in his judgment”.
“This is not the pardon that is normally the case,” he said at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex here on Monday (April 3).
Shafee said his team would also be sending the majority decision to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for comparison.
The pardon application is expected to be submitted in a week.
On March 31, the Federal Court delivered a 4-1 majority decision in dismissing Najib’s bid for leave to review his conviction and sentence in the RM42mil SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
In his dissenting view, Justice Abdul Rahman, who is the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, said Najib did not have an effective legal representation after the counsel of his choice, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, refused to represent him further in the final appeal and the Federal Court was wrong when it refused to allow Hisyam to discharge himself.
Other judges on the bench were Federal Court judges Justices Vernon Ong, Rhodzariah Bujang, Nordin Hassan and Court of Appeal judge Justice Abu Bakar Jais. ANN
Najib’s SRC review verdict: Full majority and minority judgments
The five-member Federal Court bench rejected former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s review application in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case last week.
The majority decision was by four of the members – Federal Court judges Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Rhodzariah Bujang and Nordin Hassan as well as Court of Appeal judge Abu Bakar Jais.
The panel’s chairperson Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli made the sole dissenting judgment. He was inclined to allow the review bid against Najib’s guilty verdict as well as the 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine in lieu of an additional five years in jail.
The full grounds of the majority and minority judgments have been uploaded to the judiciary’s official web portal.
Majority judgment
Minority judgment
ANN / MKINI
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