PUTRAJAYA, March 21 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s case over RM42 million funds belonging to former 1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd was postponed again today.
Justice Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof, who chaired the Court of Appeal’s three-man panel, said the appellate court allowed Najib’s request for a temporary stay of proceedings.
"This is our decision, we will grant the stay pending the appeal to the Federal Court,” she said.
"Our reason is that there is no distinction between civil and criminal proceedings in granting a stay. What is important is whether there are special circumstances.
"For our case, we find the prospect of trial being declared a nullity is there. And there are novel issues before us,” she added.
"There is no delaying tactics by the appellant,” she said, referring to Najib.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed three of four appeals filed by Najib in relation to the case.
However, it unanimously allowed his appeal in his bid to challenge the appointment of senior private lawyer Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah as his lead prosecutor in this case.
Najib’s lawyers had asked for a stay of trial proceedings pending their appeals on the three unsuccessful bids to the Federal Court.
Earlier, Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh said a stay of proceedings would not mean that the trial would be halted.
"This is not a case of delaying tactics. We are fortified in our view by the findings of the Court of Appeal on February 11, 2019,” he said, referring to a separate panel of judges that had said Najib was not using tactics to delay his trial.
Harvinderjit pointed out that the Court of Appeal had previously found that the potential of Najib’s trial becoming invalid — if his appeals succeed — amounted to special circumstances meriting a stay.
He added such circumstances have not changed and that the court should similarly grant a stay today.
Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas had objected to the stay as he said it would mean halting the trial.
Thomas went on to argue that the country’s laws provide for a stay of proceedings in civil lawsuits, but not in criminal cases.
"We surveyed the Criminal Procedure Code, and there is no statutory power given to the court in a criminal matter to stay a trial,” he argued.
Thomas also argued that the trial would not be considered void if Najib succeeds in his Federal Court appeals, arguing that both the trial and appeals could go on in parallel.
"Retrial is a common occurrence in criminal jurisdiction, it’s no big deal,” he said, arguing that the trial would not be annulled even if witnesses had already started testifying and Najib’s trial has to be reheard.
However, Harvinderjit insisted otherwise.
"The fact that AG said that if decision is overturned, there will be a retrial, then there is a risk of proceedings being rendered a nullity. No court shall sit in vain.
"Why are we being rushed here? Why is pressure being put on the accused person to quickly defend himself?” he asked, arguing against acting in haste.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued that the prosecution would be given a "second bite of the cherry” if the trial proceeds but has to be reheard, claiming that the prosecution witnesses will be able to adjust their testimony in the retrial.
Najib’s trial over the RM42 million funds was initially scheduled to start from February 12 and run until March 29, but the trial was put on hold until the Court of Appeal decided on today’s appeals.
"Because we will be writing to the Chief Justice next day or two to fix the appeal (date) as soon as possible,” he said.
Justice Zabariah then said the court is trying to expedite the matter, having also confirmed that the court will seek to quickly supply the documents necessary for the Federal Court appeals, including the written judgments with full grounds.
"We will instruct the registrar to provide the record of appeal as soon as possible. Hopefully by end of next week, we will be able to provide the (full) grounds,” she said.
The stay granted today means Najib’s trial in the RM42 million case will only start after the Federal Court hears the four appeals.
Ad hoc prosecutor, Datuk V. Sithambaram, and Attorney General’s Chambers’ prosecution division head, Manoj Kurup, speak to reporters at the Putrajaya High Court March 21, 2019. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
The Attorney General’s Chambers’ head of prosecution division, Manoj Kurup, told reporters outside the court later that they will not contest the stay granted today as they want to expedite matters.
"The stay that they just got today, we are not appealing,” he said.
However, Manoj said they will appeal the decision allowing Najib to challenge Sulaiman’s appointment as prosecutor.
Najib faces a total of 42 charges, including his seven charges over the SRC International.
Najib’s trial in two of these criminal cases are set to start on April 15 and July 8 ― namely 25 charges over more than RM2 billion of 1MDB funds, and also criminal breach of trust of some RM6.64 billion of government funds.
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