Najib still Pekan MP pending Federal Court appeal, can't contest unless conviction set aside, says lawyer

PUTRAJAYA: Despite the Court of Appeal upholding Datuk Seri Najib Razak's (pic) conviction and sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, he will not lose his status as Pekan MP if he files an appeal to the Federal Court against the decision, says a lawyer.

Lawyer Lim Wei Jiet said if the former prime minister files an appeal to the Federal Court, he will not lose his Pekan seat until 14 days after a decision by the Federal Court.

“This can be stretched further if there is a request for a pardon after the Federal Court’s decision and if the pardon is unsuccessful, he will lose his seat 14 days after that.

"However, until the conviction is set aside, he cannot contest in any election,” he said when contacted on Wednesday (Dec 8).

Lim added that it was not unusual for the Federal Court to take up to a year to hear and finally decide an appeal of this nature.

Earlier, The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction and sentence of Najib in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, where the former prime minister was found guilty of misappropriating RM42mil from the company's coffers.

A three-man panel chaired by Justice Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil had said that the appellate court had found no errors in the decision by the learned trial judge, Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

The Court of Appeal has also allowed a stay of application by Najib on the execution of his jail time pending an appeal to the Federal Court.