Najib files 307 grounds of appeal

PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (pic) has submitted 307 grounds in his petition of appeal on why he should be freed of the charges of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

Among the grounds spelt out in the petition is that he had failed to get a fair and just trial in the case.

In the petition of appeal, Najib said the mistakes made by High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali and the actions of the prosecution in denying him his rights under the Federal Constitution had caused a serious injustice towards him when he failed to get a fair and just trial.

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Lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, who is representing Najib, when contacted, confirmed that the petition was filed on Oct 19 and that it contained 307 grounds of appeal. In the petition, the Pekan Member of Parliament said the trial judge had erred in his finding when deciding to call him to enter his defence on the charges of criminal breach of trust, abusing his position and money laundering involving funds belonging to SRC International and in finding him guilty of the charges.

Najib also said the judge had erred in fact and in law in concluding that the overall evidence showed that the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International into his accounts was done by Nik Faisal Ariff Kamal and Jho Low based on his instruction.

He said the judge was also wrong in rejecting his defence that Jho Low had a motive to ensure that there was sufficient fund in his (Najib’s) account.

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Najib further claimed that the judge had erred in rejecting his defence that Jho Low had deceived him.

“The High Court judge had erred in fact and in law in his finding that the defence on donation from an Arab country was not admissible,” he added.

On July 28, the Kuala Lumpur High Court sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and a fine of RM210 million after finding him guilty of seven charges of corruption and money laundering involving SRC funds totalling RM42 million.