Malaysia’s top court has upheld former prime minister Najib Razak’s conviction and 12-year jail sentence in a graft case linked to the looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund (1MDB).
Najib’s loss in his final appeal means he will have to begin serving his sentence immediately, becoming the first former prime minister to be jailed.
He left the courthouse after the verdict and was reportedly taken to prison.
The five-member Federal Court panel said it found the High Court judge was right in his judgment and that Najib’s appeal was “devoid of any merits”.
“This is a simple and straightforward case of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering,” said Chief Justice Maimun Tuan Mat.
“We are unable to conclude that any of the findings of the High Court, as affirmed by the Court of Appeal, were perverse or plainly wrong so as to warrant appellate intervention. We agree that the defence is so inherently inconsistent and incredible that it does not raise a reasonable doubt on the prosecution case.”
The court ordered Najib to begin his time behind bars. He also must pay a 210 million ringgit ($68 million) fine.
Najib had sought on Tuesday to remove Malaysia’s top judge from the final appeal against his 12-year prison sentence in a graft case linked to the massive looting of the 1MDB, saying she may not be impartial.
In his application, Najib said the husband of Chief Justice Maimun, who is leading a five-member Federal Court bench, had been critical about his leadership over the 1MDB scandal.
In his affidavit read out in court by his lawyer, Najib said Zamani Ibrahim had, in a Facebook post right after Najib’s ouster in 2018 general elections, concluded that Najib “had siphoned sovereign government funds” into his personal account.
Najib said this was “highly disturbing” as it was likely that Mr Zamani influenced Chief Justice Maimun’s view on his alleged culpability.
As such, the court’s findings may be seen as “tainted with bias, and the public perception of the independence of the judiciary will be in doubt,” Najib said in his application.
Prosecutors accused Najib of making the application in bad faith to delay the conclusion of his final appeal.
