KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, through his lawyers, has filed a notice of appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision which upheld his guilty verdict in the SRC International Sdn Bhd trial on Wednesday (Dec 8).

Speaking to theedgemarkets.com, Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh confirmed that the notice of appeal had been filed with the Federal Court. 

“Yes, we have filed the notice of appeal to the Federal Court,” he said. 

The appeal to the Federal Court, which is also the country’s apex court, came after the Court of Appeal on Wednesday rejected Najib’s appeal to quash his conviction in the case involving ex-1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) subsidiary SRC.

In a unanimous decision, Court of Appeal Judges Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, Datuk Has Zanah Mehat and Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera upheld the High Court’s verdict on all seven charges against Najib in the SRC case.

On July 28, 2020, the High Court sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million after he was found guilty by Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali of seven charges involving SRC, which included one charge of abuse of power involving Retirement Fund (Incorporated)’s (KWAP) RM4 billion loans to SRC, three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million and three counts of money laundering.

Najib is also facing three other money laundering charges involving RM27 million in SRC, but the case in the High Court has not commenced yet. 

On Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram told the media that the appeal to the Federal Court will take at least six to nine months. 

“I think case management will come up in three months and the case will probably commence its hearing in the Federal Court in six months and they will take some time to deliver their verdict — so it could take about six to nine months,” he said. 

The Court of Appeal also granted Najib a stay of execution of his 12-year jail time and RM210 million fine pending his appeal to the Federal Court. 

This means that Najib will not have to serve his sentence in jail or pay the fine until his appeal is disposed of by the Federal Court.

As the Federal Court is the apex court in the country, this will be Najib’s last attempt at an appeal against his sentence. If he fails in this appeal, he will have to serve the sentence. 

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COA says Justice Nazlan did not err in Najib's jail term and RM210 million fine