Malaysia 1MDB scandal: Najib Razak running out of time in final appeal against 12-year jail term

Former prime minister has claimed he did not get a fair trial due to alleged conflict of interest involving trial judge Nazlan Ghazali

Najib’s lawyers have asked for more time to prepare just days before August 15 trial, sparking criticism move is attempt at ‘extorting the Federal Court’ for postponement

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (left) arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court for the 1MDB trial. Photo: Bernama/dpa

Published: 11:00am, 13 Aug 2022

The clock is running out for Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak as he bids for a final time to overturn a conviction in a case tied to the 1MDB financial scandal and escape a 12-year prison term.

Key to Najib’s attempts to set aside the guilty verdict is his claim that he did not get a fair trial owing to a supposed conflict of interest on the part of the trial judge, Nazlan Ghazali, who had previously acted as legal counsel for a bank that funded 1MDB.

Najib, 69, has also claimed that he was merely a victim of a conspiracy driven by Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, the fugitive financier said to be the mastermind behind 1MDB, and also allegedly involving former central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and her husband.

The former leader, however, has since walked back on a separate claim against Nazlan, who he alleged had received unexplained money in his personal bank account.

“For the record, I categorically withdraw any interpretation of what I said which may be taken to mean that Justice Nazlan was investigated for possible bribery,” Najib affirmed in a recent affidavit to the court.

Political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi remarked on the development as a gesture of goodwill towards the top judges at the Federal Court who now hold Najib’s fate in their hands.

“He went too far with that allegation and is seen as attacking the judiciary,” Awang Azman said.