Do Najib’s new lawyers deserve more time to bring SRC appeal?
PETALING JAYA: The Federal Court’s decision last Friday not to allow Najib Razak’s newly constituted legal team more time to prepare for his case has surprised some observers, with questions being raised as to whether the court is being unduly harsh on the former prime minister. On July 26, law…
PETALING JAYA: The Federal Court’s decision last Friday not to allow Najib Razak’s newly constituted legal team more time to prepare for his case has surprised some observers, with questions being raised as to whether the court is being unduly harsh on the former prime minister.
On July 26, law firm Zaid Ibrahim Suffian TH Liew & Partners notified the apex court that it had been appointed by Najib to take over conduct of his SRC International appeal in place of Shafee & Co, with senior criminal lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik named to replace Shafee Abdullah as lead counsel.
It was a change which Najib said became necessary following the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s refusal five days earlier to admit Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, a renowned white collar criminal lawyer in the UK, to lead submissions before Malaysia’s apex court.
Immediately following its appointment, Najib’s new legal firm, led by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, wrote to the court seeking an adjournment of the appeal which had been scheduled to run from Aug 15 to 26, citing insufficient time to prepare for what is destined to be a landmark case in the nation’s 65-year history.
That request was shot down at case management last Friday, leaving the team a mere three weeks to prepare.
“The Federal Court has been very stringent in managing the timeline of this particular appeal,” a senior lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FMT.
“It gives the wrong impression of haste on the court’s part to dispose the appeal, which is something I find quite troubling.”
Najib’s present appeal was filed on Dec 8 last year, immediately after the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed his appeal from a conviction by the High Court on July 28, 2020 on seven counts of abuse of power and misappropriation of RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International.
Solicitors Shafee & Co followed this by filing Najib’s petition of appeal on April 25.
The Federal Court then fixed the present appeal dates and directed both the prosecution and defence teams to file their written submissions by July 31. — Free Malaysia Today