KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application for a stay of execution on his 15-year prison sentence and RM11.38bil fine in his RM2.28bil 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption case.
His lawyer said the legal team would file a fresh application at the Court of Appeal to seek a stay of execution of both the conviction and sentences.
In rejecting the stay application at the High Court yesterday, Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin ruled that Najib had failed to establish the special circumstances required to justify a stay pending his appeals.
She said that after weighing the arguments from both the prosecution and defence, the gravity of the offence was a more important public interest consideration.
To this, she said Najib could no longer be considered a first-time offender as his conviction in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case had been upheld by the Court of Appeal and Federal Court.
She noted that although the offences in the SRC and 1MDB cases were committed during overlapping periods, Najib’s circumstances had changed since his earlier application for a stay in the SRC case.
The judge also rejected the defence’s argument that Najib’s medical condition warranted a stay, saying the evidence showed that his healthcare needs were being adequately addressed.
“The medical report in Exhibit MSA-14 gave me the impression that the applicant’s medical needs are very well taken care of by the government, hospitals and experts,” she said.
On the defence’s arguments concerning novel legal issues and the prospects of success on Najib’s appeal, Noor Ruwena ruled the High Court was not the forum to determine the correctness of the convictions.
She also ruled that the substantial fines imposed on Najib did not constitute special circumstances justifying a stay of the entire judgment.
“The fines are to be paid only if the conviction is upheld as it is now a matter of practice that the accused does not pay yet until the disposal of his final appeal.
“Hence, there is no compulsion of paying it now, and if the applicant is unable to pay the fines, that would just add up to his imprisonment terms to be served,” she said.
Justice Noor Ruwena added that while Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which provides for equality before the law, was relevant to such applications, the special circumstances test remained necessary to ensure the principle was correctly applied.
“The court finds that the special circumstances test has not been satisfied by the applicant. Therefore, I find no merit in this application and it is accordingly dismissed,” she said.
On Dec 26 last year, Najib was found guilty of 25 charges – four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering – linked to the 1MDB scandal.
