Malaysia 1MDB case: Najib ‘bitterly disappointed’ after court rejects last-ditch bid for retrial
- Federal Court dismisses former prime minister’s eleventh-hour application seeking to render earlier trial and its verdict null and void on grounds of bias
- Court says it is convinced Judge Nazlan Ghazali made his findings based on the evidence on record, rejects defence’s request to postpone trial for four months
“I am shocked and bitterly disappointed by the court’s decision,” said Najib, who is staring at a 12-year prison sentence at the end of this final appeal.
This accusation against Nazlan is the cornerstone of Najib’s eleventh-hour application to the Federal Court ahead of his final appeal to overturn the conviction, claiming the judge has a conflict of interest owing to his past employment at Maybank, which has had dealings with 1MDB.
The motion brought forth by the defence seeks to render the earlier trial and its verdict null and void by adducing “new” evidence suggesting Nazlan was biased in his judgment.
The panel of five top judges led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, however, dismissed the motion.
“We are not convinced that Justice Nazlan made his findings based on anything other than the evidence on record,” the chief justice said.
This came after two and a half hours of deliberation by the judges after hearing submissions by Najib’s defence counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and lead prosecutor V. Sithambaram on whether the “new” evidence carried any weight in the trial.