Judge Nazlan’s former bank job irrelevant in Najib’s SRC case, says DPP

[superadmin]

PUTRAJAYA: The prosecution in Najib Razak’s SRC International Sdn Bhd case said the involvement of judge Nazlan Ghazali, who previously held a position in Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, was irrelevant to the former prime minister’s trial in the High Court.

In an affidavit-in-reply filed at the Federal Court to object to Najib’s application to adduce fresh evidence, deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul said the alleged evidence had more to do with Najib’s ongoing trial over RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.

“The applicant’s (Najib’s) allegations are nothing but a red herring to declare the SRC trial a nullity. I state that the issue of 1MDB’s acquisition of Tanjong Energy Holdings, the involvement of Maybank and Justice Mohd Nazlan in this 1MDB matter are not relevant to the facts in relation to the SRC charges faced by the applicant in the appeals.

“These issues are not relevant to the SRC appeals but related to the 1MDB case, which is not presided over by Justice Mohd Nazlan. There was no proof of any conflict of interest by the judge which translates to a real danger of bias at the SRC trial,” said the prosecutor.

- More -