Court dismisses Najib's bid to recuse Gopal Sri Ram from prosecuting 1MDB-related trials again

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 15): The Kuala Lumpur High Court has rejected the application made by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to recuse former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram from leading the prosecution team in four of the former premier's trials related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

High Court Judge Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, in reading out his judgement earlier today, said Najib's claim that Sri Ram was biased against him was "without basis and misplaced".

"Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, like any other person, is entitled to have his personal opinion. It remains just that. It would be a different consideration if he had demonstrated his biasedness when carrying out his duty as a senior public prosecutor. His personal opinion cannot be taken to mean that he would impinge on his duties as a senior public prosecutor," the judge said. 

The claim of biasedness stemmed from the "revelation" made by former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali in June last year, which was later filed as an affidavit in support of the recusal application, that Sri Ram was sent to see him in January 2018 by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to persuade him to arrest then prime minister Najib.

The judge also found that there was no evidence to support the applicant's allegation that Sri Ram was involved in initial investigations into making the case against Najib and, as such, the accusation remained "purely hypothetical".

"It is ultimately the court's duty to ensure that a trial is conducted fairly in the interest of justice. The court will ultimately come to the aid of any party that was treated unfairly, if it ever comes to that. The applicant's application is therefore dismissed," Zaini added. 

Prior to this application, Najib already made numerous attempts to remove Sri Ram as the lead prosecutor in all the trials involving him but to no avail.

His application was first dismissed by High Court Judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is now presiding over the 1MDB-Tanore trial, and the decision was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

High Court Judge Justice Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya also rejected a separate judicial review application to remove Sri Ram made by both Najib and defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is also facing four money laundering charges of up to RM9.5 million alleged to be funds from Najib.

The decision is currently being appealed against in the Court of Appeal.

Najib’s four 1MDB-related trials

The four 1MDB-related trials in question include the ongoing power abuse and money-laundering trial involving over RM2 billion of 1MDB funds, also known as the 1MDB-Tanore trial, as well as Najib’s joint trial with former 1MDB chief executive officer (CEO) Arul Kanda Kandasamy over alleged tampering with the federal audit report on 1MDB.

Besides that, there are also the joint trial with former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah for alleged criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM6.6 billion of government funds, and Najib’s appeal against his conviction for money laundering, CBT and abuse of power involving RM27 million of former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds, which both have yet to start. 

In the first of his five major court cases, Najib was found guilty last year of all seven charges of abuse of power, CBT and money laundering in relation to RM42 million belonging to SRC. 

For this, Najib was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million — or another five years if he fails to pay the fine. Najib’s lawyers have filed a total of 307 grounds to set aside his conviction and sentence. The Court of Appeal has fixed a total of 14 days, beginning Feb 15, 2021 (today), to hear his case.

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