CJ's husband publicly declared hatred for Najib, lawyer tells Federal Court

PUTRAJAYA: The spouse of the Chief Justice had made "a public declaration of hatred" about former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a Facebook post four years ago, says Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Najib's lead counsel said in his submission at the Federal Court that Datuk Zamani Ibrahim, the husband of Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, had made "very unkind remarks" in the Facebook post which was available for public viewing.

Muhammad Shafee said that Zamani had concluded Najib's guilt in the Facebook post even before the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and SRC International Sdn Bhd matters were brought to court.

"With the greatest of respect, he (Zamani) is a personal friend (but) this is a public declaration of hatred against Najib and this is the husband of the CJ," he said on Tuesday (Feb 28) in his rebuttal in the hearing of a motion for review in Najib's SRC International case.

In his submission, Muhammad Shafee contended that the CJ should have disclosed the social media post by her husband when she chaired a five-judge panel during Najib's final appeal in the SRC International case in August last year.

"This is the husband's post made in public. If you have a Facebook (account), you can access it.

"It was not (made) in hiding. But in this case, there was no disclosure by the CJ.

"The perception of the public would be whether or not it was a fair trial," he said.

Muhammad Shafee also submitted that the closest relationship among human beings was the relationship between spouses, where he implied that the husband's view could have influenced the wife.

"We are talking about the average spouse... spouses do exchange opinions, matters of politics.

"Zamani was not a politician but he was politicking (through the Facebook post)," the lawyer said.

Muhammad Shafee also told the court that the previous panel that presided during the final appeal had never asked his client's side of the story when the previous lead counsel, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, told the court that he wanted to discharge himself.

This failure of communication or inquiry by the apex court into the context of why Hisyam wanted a discharge was a "fundamental failure of a fair trial", said Muhammad Shafee.

"Where is the environment provided by the Federal Court in the appellate stage to assist the appellant?

"This goes right to the root of a fair trial," he added.

Last week, lead prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram submitted that Najib's recusal application against the CJ over the Facebook commentary was a desperate last-minute attempt to scuttle the appeal.

Sithambaram said the post was a personal commentary on the political scenario that led up to the 14th General Election four years ago which showed no personal animosity but rather, it was a general comment by a "rakyat" on social media.

He said it was a "phenomenal coincidence" for the defence to find out about the public social media post hours before the conclusion of the appeal hearing on Aug 23 last year, and called the 11th-hour application to recuse the CJ an act of "pure desperation" to get the appeal adjourned.

The prosecutor also contended that it was "absurd and insufficient" to assume an apparent bias solely on the spousal relationship of Zamani and the Chief Justice, especially when the alleged influence was based on a post made four years ago before the SRC prosecution.

Najib is seeking leave to review the Federal Court's decision of Aug 23 which upheld the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to convict and sentence him to 12 years in jail and a RM210mil fine in the RM42mil SRC International case.

On Sept 6, he applied for leave to review the Federal Court’s decision, claiming a “miscarriage of justice” in his case.

The hearing continues in the afternoon before a five-judge panel headed by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Abdul Rahman Sebli.

Other judges on the bench are Federal Court judges Justices Vernon Ong Lam Kiat, Rhodzariah Bujang, Nordin Hassan and Court of Appeal judge Justice Abu Bakar Jais.