Datuk Seri Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on October 26, 2021. – Picture by Miera Zulyana
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — The Court of Appeal has rejected an application by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to reschedule the decision date for his conviction and sentencing from the SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption trial.
A notice issued by the Court of Appeal’s Deputy Registrar Mohd Khairi Haron, and sighted by Malay Mail, mentioned how the application to vacate the original December 8 date was denied.
“Please be informed that your application to postpone the decision date is not allowed.
“In relation to that, please ensure all parties are present at the Putrajaya Court of Appeal on the date which has been set,” wrote Mohd Khairi.
The notice was in reply to an application sent in yesterday by Najib’s lawyers, the Shafee & Co law firm, seeking for the initial December 8 date to be vacated.
Najib had requested for the dates to be changed claiming he would not be able to attend court on the decided date as he would be undergoing quarantine upon his return from Singapore the same week on December 5.
The Appellate Court’s decision today means the decision will be delivered as previously fixed on December 8.
Previously, Najib’s appeal concluded on May 18 after 15 days of hearing. The hearing which began on April 5 was initially scheduled for 12 days until April 22 but three additional days were allocated.
Court of Appeal judge Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, who chaired a three-member panel alongside Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera presided over the hearing.
In the RM42 million SRC International case, Najib was sentenced by the High Court to 10 years’ jail on each of the three counts of CBT and each of the three counts of money laundering, and 12 years’ jail and a RM210 million fine, in default five years’ jail, in the case of abuse of position on July 28 last year.
If Najib fails in his appeal, he will only be imprisoned 12 years as the High Court judge had ordered all the jail sentences to run concurrently.