PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s Federal Court on Monday (Mar 24) has dismissed former prime minister Najib Razak’s preliminary objection raised against the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) application seeking leave to appeal against his bid for house arrest.
The three-judge panel chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Hasnah Mohammed Hahsim unanimously came to the decision after hearing submissions from Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar and Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Local news outlet Malay Mail reported that Dusuki had made a rare personal appearance at the Federal Court on Monday, alongside senior federal counsels Shamsul Bolhasan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly.
Najib, who is currently serving a reduced six-year prison sentence for corruption related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, was also present at Monday’s court hearing.
The hearing chaired by Hasnah alongside Federal Court judges Zabairah Mohd Yusof and Hanipah Farikullah relates to the AGC’s bid to seek leave to appeal a previous Court of Appeal’s ruling on Jan 6.
The top court has also set Apr 28 to deliver its decision on the AGC’s leave application to stop Najib’s bid to seek a judicial review of a purported royal addendum order of his house arrest.
“We will not be making a decision on Monday,” Hasnah was quoted as saying by The Star.
Najib was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of state investor 1MDB.
He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million (US$47.4 million) before Malaysia’s former king – Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah – reduced Najib’s jail time and fine to RM50 million as one of his last official tasks before stepping down on Jan 30 last year.
Slightly over two months later, Najib applied for leave to seek judicial review of his sentence, claiming that the Jan 29, 2024 meeting of the Pardons Board contained an addendum order issued by Sultan Abdullah for him to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
Najib’s application was rejected by the High Court in July, but on Jan 6, in a 2-1 majority decision, the Court of Appeal revoked the decision and said the High Court has to hear the case.
That then led to the AGC’s appeal.
