KUALA LUMPUR: The trial judge in Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case today reminded the defence team that the decisions ruled by judges were decisions of a court of law.
High Court Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah pointed this out after the former premier’s counsel Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin submitted that the then High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali relied on the wrong legal principles in deciding Najib’s SRC International Sdn Bhd’s criminal case.
At this juncture, Judge Sequerah said, “Stop saying that the judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court were misguided or misplaced. Those are decisions of a court of law and you should use the word ‘distinguishable’ instead of misguided.
“You are entitled to your opinion but this (decision of SRC case) was a decision of a court of law,” Judge Sequerah said when Wan Azwan Aiman was making his submission at the close of the prosecution’s case.
Najib, 71, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch on Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
He also faces 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount at the same bank between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013.
Najib is charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.
The submission resumes Sept 2.
