PUTRAJAYA: Despite being in prison, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is still thinking of how to improve and develop Malaysia, says his defence lawyer, Mohamed Shafee Abdullah.
Shafee said this to the High Court during his mitigation after the former prime minister was found guilty on all 25 charges in the RM2.3bil 1MDB case.
Shafee explained that Najib was currently pursuing a PhD programme in prison with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
"Najib's thesis, with a tentative title of 'Economic Transformation of Malaysia', started in 2023 and is expected to finish next year," he said.
Shafee spoke of Najib's dedication to pursuing his thesis.
"In his mind, he is still thinking of the development of Malaysia. He's writing as a means of communicating, what is the best way for economic transformation in the country," Shafee said.
The lawyer also addressed Najib's sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
He said Najib was originally sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and a RM210mil fine, but it was substantially reduced to six years and RM50mil.
"It is important when we mentioned about what transpired in the pardons issue...
"Unlike other pardons, when an accused person or convicted prisoner apply for pardon, the person threw himself at the mercy of the Pardons Board or the Ruler. In this case, it is not," Shafee said.
The lawyer said the sole ground of the Najib's pardon application was that he was not given a fair trial.
"The Yang di-Pertuan Agong took cognisance that Najib never received a fair trial.
"He never received a fair appeal in the SRC case," Shafee said.
Shafee spoke about "selective accountability" and named Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, Hazim Abdul Rahman, Azmi Tahir, Jasmine Loo, Datuk Amhari Effendi Nasaruddin, who were all brought as prosecution witnesses, with the exception of Jho Low.
"They have yet to face accountability. They were playing main roles in misleading 1MDB while working there," he said.
He added that Najib had given full cooperation with the authorities, both with the MACC and the police.
"He remained the prime minister in that year.
"A prime minister is a very powerful person in the country.
"He gave his statements to the MACC and the police as early as 2015. He allowed the Public Accounts Committee to be formed in order to begin investigation," he said.
