Convicted former premier Najib Abdul Razak is seeking to postpone his final appeal date for the SRC International corruption case at the Federal Court, which is slated to be heard on August 15 to 26.
In a letter to the Federal Court, the legal firm representing Najib, Zaid Ibrahim Suffian TH Liew & Partners, said it was requesting urgent case management in order for the court to hear the application.
The letter also announced that Hisyam Teh Poh Teik will be Najib’s lead counsel after the Pekan member of parliament sacked Muhammed Shafee Abdullah from Shafee & Co earlier today.
They had represented 69-year-old Najib at the High Court and the Court of Appeal during the SRC International trial, both of which gave unfavourable judgements to the defendant.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali of the High Court found Najib guilty of seven criminal offences in 2020 for stealing RM42 million from SRC International.
He received a 12-year jail term and a RM 210 million fine from the judge. The Court of Appeal later affirmed the judgement.
In their letter to the Federal Court, the law firm wrote:
At the mention or case management conference, we are instructed to:
A. Withdraw the pending appeal against the decision of the High Court dismissing the Appellant’s application for ad-hoc admission of Jonathan Laidlaw QC (Queen’s Counsel).
B. Address the honourable court with regard to the adjournment of the notice of motion filed on 07.06.2022 and the main appeal fixed for hearing on 15.08.2022 to 26.08.2022, on the basis that a wholly new team has taken over conduct of the above matter,” the firm said in the letter.
Najib’s request for the court to appoint a QC to defend him in the final appeal was denied last week.
On July 29, the Federal Court is set to oversee this application of case management.
Najib also requested on June 7 that additional witnesses be called and fresh material be added to his SRC International case in order to bolster his allegation of a conflict of interest by high court’s trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
Additionally, he is requesting that the Federal Court nullify the entirety of the SRC International trial and consider ordering a new trial.
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