Federal Court should have allowed Najib to adduce new evidence, says Johor Umno treasurer

KLUANG: A local Umno leader has expressed disappointment with the way the Federal Court handled the case involving former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Johor Umno treasurer Datuk Md Jais Sarday said that he was not questioning the judgement but the process.

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"This is the final avenue for Najib to explain or adduce new evidence. Why couldn't the court have accommodated this request.

"Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during his trial in 1998 and 2008 had many postponements before sentencing. His trial took about six years," he said during an interview.

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On Tuesday (Aug 13), the Federal Court upheld Najib's conviction and 12 years' jail sentence for misappropriating RM42mil of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

On another issue, he said that the present government should properly explain the littoral combat ships (LCS) scandal and not let the Opposition hijack the narrative and win in the court of public opinion.

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Md Jais said that this issue, if not handled properly, would become a disaster for Barisan Nasional.

He added that people needed to be told that this fiasco started in the 1990s when the government under Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad awarded the contract totalling RM25bil for the construction of 27 off-shore vessels (OPVs).

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"Then to bail out a crony, the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) was asked to take over the original company which was awarded the contract as they were unable to deliver.

"Then for OPVs they then decided to build six ships known as offshore patrol vessels" he said, adding that when Pakatan Harapan came to power, construction of the vessels stopped until a new government took over.

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Md Jais, who is also Kluang Umno division chief, said that while he supported the call for those involved in the scandal to be investigated and charged, he hoped that investigations would also cover when the issue started in the 1990s and about the people involved in the bailout.

He added that a proper picture should be presented to the public as presently there were many contradictory statements being made.

"If this issue is not going to be managed properly, we will have serious trouble explaining to voters in GE15," he said, adding that the government should appoint a proper spokesperson to handle the issue and impose a gag-order on the rest to avoid confusion and speculation.

He said that this fiasco was embarrassing for the country as it involved national security matters.