Appeal court verdict looms for Malaysia’s Najib after failed bid to stall 1MDB-linked case

Malaysia’s Court of Appeal will decide whether to uphold a conviction against former PM Najib Razak, after dismissing an application to introduce new evidence

The eleventh-hour tactics employed by Najib’s defence team have raised eyebrows within Malaysia’s legal community, with some suggesting they were improper

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Najib Razak, Malaysia’s former prime minister, pictured in September. Photo: Reuters

Hadi Azmiin Kuala Lumpur

Published: 8:52pm, 7 Dec 2021Updated: 9:22pm, 7 Dec 2021

Malaysia’s second-highest court will decide on Wednesday morning whether to uphold a 1MDB-linked conviction against Najib Razak, after judges on Tuesday dismissed the former prime minister’s application to introduce fresh evidence.

Najib, 68, was sentenced in July last year to 12 years in jail and issued a 210 million ringgit (US$49.6 million) fine after the High Court found him guilty of all seven counts in the first of several trials linking him to the multibillion dollar plunder of the 1MDB state fund.

Wednesday’s Court of Appeal decision is being closely watched in Malaysia, where Najib has undergone something of a political resurgence following his stunning electoral defeat and arrest in 2018.

The Palace of Justice building in Putrajaya, which houses Malaysia’s Court of Appeal and Federal Court. Photo: Bloomberg

No matter the verdict, the former leader is likely to remain free on bail for some time yet as both his defence team and the prosecutors can file an appeal to the country’s highest judicial body, the Federal Court.

Ahead of Wednesday’s ruling, Najib’s defence lawyers petitioned the Court of Appeal to convene urgently to consider a “fresh application” that they believed would help his case.

The defence team said new evidence it uncovered raised questions over the role of Malaysia’s former central bank governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, in the various transactions related to the 1MDB financial scandal.