Judge in Najib’s case should recuse himself, say lawyers

KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): The judge presiding over the corruption trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pictured) ought to have disclosed that the judge’s brother is a Pahang Umno leader in order to ensure that the integrity of the case is not affected, the Malaysian Bar said.

Given that Najib was until recently the president of Umno and chairman of Barisan Nasional, High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak should have disclosed his relationship to Pahang executive councillor Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abdul Razak, Bar Council president George Varughese said.

“The Malaysian Bar believes that such disclosure by the judge was necessary to preserve the integrity of the proceedings before him and to avoid any real danger of bias.

“The judge’s failure to do so has unfortunately raised serious questions about the propriety of him continuing to preside over the case. He should recuse himself from further hearing the case,” Varughese said in a statement yesterday.

Constitutional lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said that if Najib wants to clear his name as he has said, there should be no room for doubt in the mind of Malaysians.

The media has reported that Mohd Sofian is the younger brother of Mohd Soffi, the assembly member for the Benta state seat.

Following the mention of four corruption charges against Najib in court on Wednesday, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas was quoted as saying that it was the first time he had heard that Mohd Sofian is related to the state Umno representative.

It is believed that the prosecution team would apply for Mohd Sofian’s recusal at the next mention of the case on Aug 8, although Thomas has not confirmed this.

Malik said it must be shown that there is a real danger of bias when an application to recuse the judge is made to court.

“It is not necessary to show actual bias, apparent bias is also a ground. The rule of law requires not only that justice is done; it must be seen to be done,” he told The Edge Financial Daily.

Malik added that although it is appropriate for the judge to recuse himself, it should not be taken in any way as a mark of the judge not being able to hear the case in an unbiased manner.

“Rather it should be looked on as a prudent step to take in a highly charged case in which the accused has already alleged that he is being made the victim of political persecution. It may have been otherwise if no such allegation was made,” he added.

Lawyer Annou Xavier told The Edge Financial Daily that Mohd Sofian should recuse himself to retain full confidence in the judiciary.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 6, 2018.

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