Court allows temporary release of Najib’s passport for Singapore visit

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has allowed the temporary release of Najib Razak’s impounded passport to enable him to visit his daughter Nooryana Najwa, who is due to deliver her second baby soon in Singapore.

A three-member bench chaired by Kamaludin Md Said unanimously agreed to allow the application after hearing submissions from Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari did not object to the application and left the matter to the court.

Kamaludin said the passport will be released on Wednesday for Najib to renew the travel document to be in the island republic from Nov 3. He must surrender the passport back to the court on Nov 22.

“We are allowing the application as it is reasonable. The passport should be returned on Nov 22,” he said.

Others on the bench were P Ravinthran and Abu Bakar Jais.

This is the first time the former prime minister is leaving the country since his Barisan Nasional-led government was ousted in the last general election on May 9, 2018 general. His passport was impounded after criminal charges were filed against him a few months later.

Last week, Najib filed the application for temporary return of his passport, as the travel document is being held by the Court of Appeal, which previously heard his appeal to quash his RM42 million SRC corruption case conviction and sentencing.

On Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed a similar application for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, to enable her to be in Singapore and give mental and moral support to Nooryana.

Previously, Rosmah surrendered her passport to the High Court as part of bail conditions, pending disposal of her corruption trial linked to the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid energy project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak. — Free Malaysia Today