Najib appeals AG’s move to withdraw certificate to transfer charges

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has filed an appeal against a decision allowing the prosecution to withdraw a certificate to transfer his seven charges, related to RM42mil in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, to the High Court.

The former prime minister’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the notice of appeal was filed yesterday afternoon with a certificate of urgency.

He said the defence would also file an application at the Court of Appeal to postpone the trial of the case, which is scheduled for Feb 12.

Muhammad Shafee said the withdrawal of the certificate, which was issued in accordance to Section 418(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code), had affected the entire proceeding.

“We will submit that as soon as the certificate of transfer to the High Court is withdrawn, there is no longer a subsisting proceeding at the High Court and the case needs to be pushed back to the Sessions Court (where Najib was first charged).

“The prosecution cannot simply withdraw the certificate without facing consequences,” he said.

A three-man panel chaired by Court of Appeal judge Justice Kam­ardin Hashim presided over the proceeding.

The other two judges on the panel are Justices Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal.

Muhammad Shafee told the panel that the main appeal on fundamental issues must be heard first before the panel could hear three other related appeals filed by the defence that was initially fixed for hearing yesterday.

The appeals were regarding the appointment of Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah as the lead prosecutor in the case, a gag order for the media from discussing merits of the case and an application to obtain documents in the case.

Earlier at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Attorney General Tommy Thomas had applied before High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali to withdraw the certificate to transfer the seven charges against Najib to avoid any possible argument that the transfer was a nullity.

Mohd Nazlan allowed the prosecution to withdraw the certificate and used his discretion under Sec­tion 417(2) of the Criminal Proce­dure Code to bring back the charges from the Sessions Court for him to hear the cases.

On July 4 last year, Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one charge of abuse of power involving SRC International funds amounting to RM42mil.

Subsequently on Aug 8, 2018, Najib was charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same funds.