Meeting the press: Najib (in brown suit) speaking to reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court after his sentencing.
KUALA LUMPUR: The guilty verdict in the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is a victory for justice, says the prosecution.
Ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram said the prosecution’s case had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
“We are pleased that justice has been served in this case and that the judge had accepted the truth of the prosecution’s case.
“The outcome is actually a victory for justice,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Earlier, the High Court handed a 12-year jail sentence and RM210mil fine for all seven charges relating to the misappropriation of RM42mil from SRC International funds.
Sithambaram said he estimated that the case would finally be disposed of in a year.
He also defended the decision made by the court, saying “no judge is not honest”.
This was in response to a remark made by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib’s lead counsel, who had commented that while it was an “honest judgment” and the judge himself was honest, he was of the opinion that Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali “honestly made various mistakes”.
Sithambaram said Justice Nazlan heard the case over 100 days with 57 prosecution witnesses and 19 defence witnesses – including Najib – who had testified.
“He saw the witnesses in person, evaluated the documentary evidence that was presented and considered the submissions put in by the defence and prosecution which ran into hundreds of pages.
“He had read all that and his judgment today was testimony that he had considered all the facts and made a finding of fact,” Sithambaram said yesterday.
He said despite Najib maintaining his innocence by swearing that he had no knowledge about the money, the prosecution presented evidence that had proven otherwise.
According to Sithambaram, evidence showed that RM42mil had gone into Najib’s personal bank accounts and this was reflected in the bank statements.
Asked how he felt leading the prosecution for a hearing that had lasted over a year, he said he was pleased that the prosecution’s case was accepted by the judge.
“This (verdict) of course is a huge relief for us,” he added.
News about Sithambaram joining the prosecution team in Najib’s case broke in February last year and sparked interest among the legal fraternity.
Before his appointment as an ad hoc prosecutor, Sithambaram was a criminal lawyer with a wealth of experience, having been in the profession for more than 30 years.
