KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed the challenge by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on the appointment of lead prosecutor Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah in his corruption case involving SRC International.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said the application lacked merit as there was no legal requirement for the prosecution to provide the letter of authorisation to the defence for appointing Sulaiman as lead prosecutor.
“The appointment is only required to be shown to court and not to the accused. The media release with the name of Attorney General Tommy Thomas made it crystal clear that Sulaiman would be leading the case,“ the judge said in dismissing the application.
“This application is less than meritorious. In that view, I dismiss this application,“ he added.
Senior lawyer Sulaiman who is the lead prosecutor was appointed by way of ‘fiat’ (authorisation).
Earlier, the court had heard submissions from both parties.
Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked if the media release issued by the Attorney General Chambers was sufficient as there was no signature at the end.
Shafee said that the prosecution must tender the letter of authorisation to the court.
However, Sulaiman said the letter has been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 and cannot be questioned in court.
“The AG who prosecuted the case publicly stated that the case would be handed over to advocate and solicitor, Sulaiman Abdullah,“ he said.
Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breech of trust (CBT) and one charge of abuse of power involving RM42 million from SRC International on July 4.
On Aug 8, he was charged with three counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
