CONVICTED former prime minister Najib Razak is confident that “justice will be done” after the Court of Appeal yesterday unanimously upheld his guilty verdict for corruption charges linked to RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

In a Facebook post today, Najib reiterated his innocence and said he has been persecuted.

He also thanked his friends and supporters for believing his innocence and supporting him throughout the process. 

“The next stage of appeal is the Federal Court and I believe justice will be done.”

Najib’s lawyers said they have filed an appeal at the country’s highest court to overturn his conviction.

The Pekan MP was also granted a stay of execution by the Court of Appeal yesterday, which means he will remain a free man and will only know his fate once it is decided by the Federal Court.

“As a Muslim, I state in the name of Allah: Wallahi, wabillahi, watallahi that I did not ask and I never instructed anyone to transfer the RM42 million. The court of the hereafter will be judged by Allah.” 

“I am very grateful and appreciate the confidence, trust and concern of all the brothers and sisters,” he said in the post.

Najib was found guilty of seven charges of money-laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in July last year. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million.

Yesterday, a three-member appeals court bench, chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, agreed that Najib had a personal interest in the cabinet approving a government guarantee for a RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc to SRC International. 

The judges ruled that Najib’s action in relation to the RM4 billion loan to SRC was not for national interest but for personal benefit.

“I say here that to this day, I have always insisted that I was innocent and had been persecuted. I will continue to defend myself and uphold the truth in the courts of the world,” Najib said. 

“I was tried in court. I was also tried in the people’s court. Found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison because the judge said it was not my right to donate RM42 million, which I never hid, never asked for and never ordered to be transferred to my account,” he said. 

“That this is an offence under the anti-money laundering act. In fact, the court was also told by Ambank and MACC that I received RM642 million from the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia, which I have also donated in full for various CSR activities and Rakyat programmes. I was not found guilty of stealing RM42 million for my personal use,” he said. 

Besides SRC, Najib is also facing criminal trials linked to losses from 1MDB and for allegedly tampering with an audit report for the sovereign wealth fund.

Investigators say some US$4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB, which Najib founded in 2009 soon after he took office as prime minister.

“Maybe this is the journey that is destined. I face it calmly and contently. I will continue to defend myself and uphold the truth in the courts of the world,” he said. 

“This is not the end either. Not at all. Because my pledge remains, fighting to the last breath for the welfare of the people,” he said. – December 9, 2021.