Court throws out Najib’s bid to postpone decision on SRC appeal

The Court of Appeal has rejected former prime minister Najib Razak’s bid to postpone the Dec 8 date for a decision on his appeal against his conviction and sentence for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.

Najib had applied to vacate the date, citing his trip to Singapore from which he said he would only return on Dec 5.

He said he would then need to undergo mandatory quarantine for seven days until Dec 12 and asked for the decision to be delivered on Dec 13 or later.

According to the New Straits Times, though, Najib and his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah were informed in a letter signed by Court of Appeal deputy registrar Mohd Khairi Haron that their application was rejected.

The report said they were also told to be present in court on Dec 8, as originally scheduled.

Najib was last month granted the temporary release of his passport for travel to Singapore to be with his daughter who was then expecting her second child, joining his wife Rosmah Mansor who was earlier granted permission as well despite their pending court cases.

The Court of Appeal later allowed him to amend the dates for the temporary release and return of his passport to allow him to campaign in the Melaka state election on Nov 20.

Najib was convicted in July last year of seven counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million by the Kuala Lumpur High Court but allowed a stay of execution pending his appeal.