Judge in Najib’s case transferred back to civil courts
Six months after making history in convicting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has been transferred from the Kuala Lumpur criminal court back to the civil court.
In a circular issued by the Bar Council to all members of the Bar yesterday, Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed directed the transfer of Nazlan from the Kuala Lumpur High Court (Criminal 3) to Kuala Lumpur High Court (NCvC 2), effective March 1.
(Editor's Note: This story has been amended to reflect that Nazlan was originally in the civil courts and has been transferred back.)
Six months after making history in convicting former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali has been transferred from the Kuala Lumpur criminal courts back to the civil courts.
A circular issued by the Bar Council to all members yesterday said Chief Judge of Malaya Azahar Mohamed has directed the transfer of Nazlan from the Kuala Lumpur High Court (Criminal 3) to the Kuala Lumpur High Court (Civil 2), effective March 1.
“The Chief Judge of Malaya, Azahar Mohamed, has extended to us a copy of a directive for change for His Honorable Judge of the High Court of Malaya.
“Please be informed that the following placement will take effect on March 1, 2021 (Monday),” the circular by Malaysian Bar secretary AG Kalidas referring to Nazlan read.
In July 2018, Nazlan was transferred from the commercial courts to the criminal courts to preside over Najib's RM42 million SRC International corruption case. He took over from the previous judge, Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak. The commercial courts are part of the wider civil courts system.
A member of the Bar, Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar, confirmed that he had received the circular.
The lawyer said in light of Nazlan’s role in presiding over Najib’s corruption trial, his transfer would raise eyebrows.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, lawyer Chan Yen Hui also confirmed the circular.
On July 28 last year, Nazlan became the first judge in Malaysia to hand down a guilty verdict on a former prime minister, in this case, Najib, over seven charges linked to RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
He had found the former premier guilty of one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and three counts of money laundering.
Nazlan sentenced Najib to a total of 72 years in jail.
On the abuse of power offence, the accused was slapped with a 12-year jail term and fined RM210 million. For the three criminal breaches of trust charges and the three money laundering charges, the sentences were 10 years' jail for each offence. No fines were imposed for the money laundering charges.
However, the former premier will only have to serve 12 years in prison as the judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
In the event of a default on the RM210 million fine - which is five times the RM42 million in gratification received by Najib - he will be jailed five more years.
Najib’s defence later succeeded in obtaining a stay of execution of the sentences pending disposal of their appeal at the Court of Appeal.
According to a copy of Najib’s petition of appeal, the former premier claimed that he was denied a fair trial in his SRC graft case because of errors allegedly committed by the judge as well as by alleged acts of the prosecution.
Other high-profile cases
Nazlan still has a few other high-profile criminal cases that he has yet to conclude hearings before his March 1 transfer.
Another 1MDB-linked case that is pending before Nazlan’s criminal court is the government’s US$340 million forfeiture suit against PetroSaudi International Limited and four others.
Apart from 1MDB-linked matters, Nazlan is also set to deliver on Feb 3 his end-of-defence decision on former Felda chairperson Mohd Isa Samad’s corruption case linked to the purchase of the Merdeka Palace Hotel & Suites (MPHS) by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB).
In another corruption case, Nazlan had on Dec 7 last year granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) to former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in his RM1 million corruption case.
This after an appeal from the prosecutors who cited that new developments in the case warranted further investigation.
However, two weeks later, Tengku Adnan was found guilty on a separate RM2 million graft charge by another High Court judge, Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, and was sentenced to 12 months' jail and a fine of RM2 million. Tengku Adnan has since filed an appeal against the decision.
According to the judiciary's website, Nazlan was appointed judicial commissioner on April 10, 2015, and later elevated to High Court judge on Jan 30, 2017.
The 52-year-old is an alumnus of the distinguished all-boys residential school, the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, Perak.
He pursued a Bachelor of Arts in jurisprudence at the University of Oxford and later furthered his studies for a Master of Arts at the same university.
Nazlan will preside over current criminal cases till completion
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