Amid full pardon push, Najib's FB swipes at SRC trial judge again

Summary

• Najib Abdul Razak's Facebook has posted another message, this time alleging that SRC International trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali had a conflict of interest.

• The posting skips over important facts like the Federal Court rejecting the ex-PM’s bid to recuse Nazlan and get a retrial.

• The bid to cast doubt on Najib's initial conviction comes amid a push to get him a full pardon.

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Najib Abdul Razak's Facebook account has taken another swipe at SRC International trial judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in what appeared to be an exercise to discredit the former premier’s initial conviction.

This came amid a push by Umno to lobby Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar to grant Najib a full pardon over his conviction in the SRC corruption case.

The Facebook posting dredges up the issue of Nazlan's alleged conflict of interest in the SRC International case due to the judge's past working with Maybank when SRC International was engaging the bank - and MACC’s probe into the matter.

The posting does mention that the Federal Court had rejected the MACC's probe into Nazlan (above) while skipping over the fact that the court ruled the investigation did not follow procedure.

It does not mention that a separate Federal Court bench also rejected Najib's bid to recuse Nazlan and get a retrial in the SRC International case.

READ MORE: PM: MACC found no criminal element in Nazlan’s case

The Facebook page also tries to obfuscate some matters in the case, such as citing how monies that ended up in the former premier's account had not directly originated from SRC International but from Ihsan Perdana.

However, it does not include that Ihsan Perdana is the corporate social responsibility arm of SRC International.

Likewise, the post does not mention that Najib's conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

READ MORE: COMMENT | Revisiting Najib's RM42m SRC conviction

Najib, as an inmate, is not supposed to have access to social media.

His Facebook, however, has been updated with a post since yesterday.

The former Pekan MP was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine.

However, last year, his sentence was reduced to six years in prison and a RM50 million fine.

Judicial review over addendum

Yesterday, the Court of Appeal granted Najib's appeal to commence a judicial review at the High Court to compel the government to enforce an alleged decree by the previous Agong granting Najib house arrest.

A letter from the Pahang palace was submitted to the court, which confirmed that the addendum was real.

The Home Ministry said it could not have enforced the addendum as it was never delivered to them.

Following yesterday's court ruling, Umno president and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi pleaded with the king to grant Najib a full pardon.

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