THE SRC International verdict has reignited hope that the rule of law in Malaysia is moving in the right direction despite events of the past months after the fall of Pakatan Harapan in late February.

Political analysts told The Malaysian Insight the fact that former prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering is a sign of increasing judicial independence.

This is especially since Umno, the party that Najib used to head, is back in power and part of the Perikatan Nasional government.

They, however, cautioned Malaysians against celebrating too early as Najib still has the chance to overturn the verdict at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

Political scientist Prof Dr James Chin also warned that Najib can still escape without spending a day in jail if Umno regains full control of Putrajaya in possible snap elections.

“If Umno is in power, he won’t physically go to jail in the long term. Also, verdicts tend to get overturned at the Court of Appeal,” said Chin, who heads the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania.

But for Ramon Navaratnam, who once served under five of Malaysia’s six prime ministers and who now heads the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS), the SRC verdict still signifies something positive.

“Now I feel much more relieved and confident that we will go in the right direction and that justice must be done and seen to be done,” said Ramon, a former senior Finance Ministry official.

Ramon, who is part of the Merdeka generation, said he felt sorry for Najib as he knew the former prime minister and had worked under his father, Abdul Razak Hussein, the second prime minister.

“But justice must be done and everyone must recognise that no one is above the law. This would hopefully change the worsening culture of corruption and could be the turning point for Malaysia.”

Najib was found guilty yesterday of all seven criminal charges for having received RM42 million from SRC International, making him the first former prime minister to be charged and convicted in Malaysia.

Najib, also the former finance minister, was convicted on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power.

He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.

Hope returns

The verdict follows 14 months of hearings which began when Najib was dragged to court after he and Umno lost federal power in the 14th general election.

PH had campaigned and promised in GE14 to prosecute those responsible for more than RM42 billion in losses in state firms linked to Najib’s administration.

The SRC International case is the first of five cases where Najib was prosecuted.

Midway through its five-year term, PH was brought down in a bloodless coup that was supported by Umno, whose top leaders also served in Najib’s former cabinet.

During PN’s term which began in March, controversial settlements were made in two high-profile cases involving Najib’s brainchild 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The first was the government’s decision to drop money-laundering charges against Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz in exchange for him returning money that was allegedly looted from 1MDB. 

The second 1MBD case was the government’s decision to reach a settlement with US bank Goldman Sachs for US$3.9 billion for their criminal involvement with 1MDB.

The way these cases were handled had sparked suspicions that Najib would be let off the hook, said political scientist Dr Tunku Mohar Tunku Mokhtar.

“If anything, this decision is audacious at a time when cases related to Umno politicians have been dropped and when public perception has been growing that he (Najib) might be acquitted,” said Tunku Mohar of the International Islamic University.

Dr Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said the verdict is a vindication of the public sentiment that Najib was guilty of malpractices while he was in power – accusations that were bolstered by investigations by US authorities into 1MBD.

“Praise must be given to the judge for his very thorough and independent analysis of the case,” said Oh, who is the institute’s senior fellow.

“We can only hope that this kind of judicial independence will continue in other 1MBD cases as well as other cases of abuse of power and corruption.” – July 29, 2020.