KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today failed in his application to remove judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah from continuing to hear his 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial, which means he has also failed in achieving his ultimate goal of being acquitted.
Sequerah today decided that he will continue to hear Najib's trial involving RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.
In rejecting Najib's application to remove him from the 1MDB trial, Sequerah said Najib's application was solely based on the fact that he was a partner in the same law firm at the same time as Jasmine Loo and that Loo was a legal assistant there during his tenure at the firm. This was up until Loo's resignation in 2008 from the firm.
"Since that time, December 31, 2008, there has been no communication either on a professional or personal basis and neither have I met her since that time. Since Jasmine Loo left the firm until today, it is approximately 15 years ago," the judge said, adding that there has been no evidence shown in court that there is any form of personal or professional relationship between him and Loo.
Sequerah said the legal test required to recuse a judge is the "real danger of bias" test, and that it is Najib who has the burden of proving that there is a "real danger of bias" if Sequerah were to continue hearing the 1MDB trial.
But Sequerah said Najib had failed to discharge his burden of proving that there is a real danger of bias, and dismissed Najib's application to recuse and remove him as the 1MDB trial judge.
Among other things, Sequerah said he would be able to objectively evaluate the witness unbiasedly if Loo was to be called as a witness in the 1MDB trial, and that he would not be in a conflict of interest if he continued hearing the case.
As for Najib's argument that Sequerah should have disclosed having worked in the same law firm as Loo at an earlier stage, Sequerah said "no amount of gazing into the crystal ball would have found me with the knowledge that Jasmine Loo would be apprehended" or be called as a witness in this case, given the fact that it was disclosed during the trial that she was a "fugitive of justice".
Noting that it was when Najib's lawyers insisted on knowing whether the prosecution would call in the recently-apprehended Loo as a witness and the prosecution has yet to say if she would be called as a witness, Sequerah said he had at that time decided to make the disclosure and said this was to him the "most appropriate" time for him to say so.
Among other things, Sequerah said that the fact that Loo and himself were partners previously in the same law firm was "not something that was hidden in the public eye".
The judge said no assumption of bias can be made, as it was not shown that he has any personal, pecuniary or direct relationship with Loo.
The judge also cited a past court judgment, which among other things stated that "past associations including a mere past history of employment" as not being sufficient to show a real danger of bias.
"Following the above, there's no necessity on my part to disclose my past employment in the same law firm in the first place," the judge said, before ultimately dismissing Najib's application to remove him from the 1MDB trial.
On August 14, Najib applied to remove Sequerah from hearing the 1MDB trial, with the ultimate aim of getting acquitted of all the 25 charges in the trial, or to alternatively have the trial be heard afresh from the start or be continued before a different High Court judge.
Recently, 1MDB's former in-house lawyer Jasmine Loo resurfaced and was arrested in Malaysia after being abroad throughout the years of the trial, with Najib's lawyers then asking on July 26 if she would be a witness in the 1MDB trial.
On July 26, Sequerah disclosed that he and Loo were partners in the same law firm Zain & Co — which he described as a medium to big-sized law firm — many years ago.
Sequerah worked at Zain & Co as a lawyer in the litigation department(legal assistant from 1996 to 2000 and partner from 2001 to June 19, 2014), before joining the judiciary on June 20, 2014 until now.
Loo also worked in Zain & Co as a lawyer in the corporate department (legal assistant from 1998 to 2003, partner from 2004 to December 31, 2008), before eventually joining 1MDB and becoming a fugitive over the 1MDB scandal.
This meant that 2008 which was the last time Sequerah and Loo were working in the same law firm was 15 years ago. At that time, 1MDB did not even exist yet.
Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) Berhad was established on February 27, 2009, and was later renamed in September 2009 as 1MDB when the federal government took over TIA.
Following Sequerah's dismissal of the recusal application, Najib's lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah then said his client will be appealing today's decision.
Shafee then applied for the 1MDB trial to be stayed or paused until the appeal is decided, but deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib objected to the stay application and argued that there are no special circumstances to justify the stay.
Sequerah then decided to reject the application for a stay as the judge said there are no special circumstances to justify a stay.
The trial then continued with the 46th prosecution witness Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz taking the witness stand.
Among other things, Zeti today confirmed that she has "no contact" with Bank Negara Malaysia since she retired as its governor in 2016.
Today is the fifth day that Zeti has testified in the 1MDB trial, with her lawyer and BNM's lawyers present to hold a watching brief throughout her testimony.
The trial did not continue in the afternoon, as Shafee said he had to be present at the Federal Court for a decision related to an election petition case.
Najib's 1MDB trial is scheduled to resume on August 28 to 30, with Shafee expected to continue cross-examining Zeti.
Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was seen in court today.
In a brief press conference after today's court proceedings, Shafee said the appeal against the dismissal of Najib's application to recuse Sequerah will be filed today, and that a stay application would be filed on Monday at the Court of Appeal to seek to pause the 1MDB trial until the appeal is decided on.
