AGC files appeal, seeks heavier penalties against Najib in RM42m SRC case

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) is appealing against the High Court’s sentencing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the latter’s trial over RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, and is seeking for the court to mete out heavier penalties against the former prime minister on all seven charges that he was convicted of.

Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, head of the Appeals Unit in the AGC’s appellate and trial division, confirmed that the AGC had filed a notice of appeal through e-filing on August 7.

“We are appealing against the inadequacy of sentencing.

“Meaning we feel the sentence is not adequate, we are seeking heavier penalties on all seven charges,” he told Malay Mail when contacted today.

“After this, we will wait for the record of appeal to be prepared by the High Court. Once everything is in order, usually the Court of Appeal will fix case management to make sure all parties are ready for hearing,” he said when explaining the appeal process.

Typically, a hearing date for an appeal is fixed after a case has gone through case management.

Separately, one of Najib’s lawyers — Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee — similarly confirmed that the AGC has filed an appeal against the sentencing meted out by the High Court on all seven charges against Najib in the SRC case.

“Yes, they have appealed on the sentence for all charges,” he told Malay Mail when contacted.

On July 30, Najib had filed an appeal against the High Court’s July 28 decision that found him to be guilty of all seven charges in the SRC trial, with his appeal also against the RM210 million fine as well as the imprisonment sentence in all seven charges.

On July 28, the High Court found Najib guilty of all seven charges of committing power abuse, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering in the SRC International trial.

The High Court had sentenced Najib to a 12-year jail term and a fine of RM210 million with an additional five years if the fine is not paid for the power abuse charge.

The High Court had also sentenced Najib to jail terms of 10 years each for the six other charges, which when chalked up would total 72 years.

But as the High Court said that the prison terms are to be served concurrently or simultaneously, Najib would only have to serve a maximum of 12 years instead.

The High Court also granted Najib a stay of execution of his sentence pending the appeal, with the condition that he pay an increased bail of another RM1 million with two sureties by July 29, and report to the nearest police station on the 1st and 15th of every month.

On July 29, Najib paid the additional RM1 million bail required for the stay of the SRC decision. This is on top of the previous RM1 million bail that Najib had posted when he was charged in the SRC case.