WHILE delivering the judgment of the Court of Appeal in dismissing former prime minister Najib Razak’s appeal against his conviction and sentence for misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil said:

“The appellant was actively involved in ensuring that the KWAP loans were disbursed to SRC. However, after the funds had been disbursed, the appellant became indifferent to the whereabout of the funds, and did not inquire from SRC as to what had happened to the funds, nor how it was utilised and for what purpose. He even instructed the second Finance Minister then to keep off SRC.

“This conduct of the appellant can be indicative of only one thing, and that is, once the funds had been secured by SRC, over which the appellant had overarching control, he was free to utilize them for his personal benefit. This is manifested by the flow of the RM42 million from SRC into his personal accounts.

“This is definitely not something that can be said to have been done in the national interest. There is no national interest here, just national embarrassment.”

In a press conference hours later, Najib said he was disappointed with the appellate court judge’s remarks. Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the remarks were unnecessary. 

Compare the remarks with that of the incomparable Raja Azlan Shah (as His Royal Highness then was) – a judicial giant – who, as the trial judge in Public Prosecutor v Datuk Haji Harun Bin Haji Idris (1977), and after having found the then Menteri Besar of Selangor and a political heavyweight of the time, guilty on three counts of corruption, said:

“It is painful for me to have to sentence a man I know. I wish it were the duty of some other judge to perform that task…. [I]t will be impossible to ignore the fact that you are in a different category from any person that I have ever tried.”

The Federal Court judge, who was sitting as a High Court judge, was addressing the accused in person. The learned judge continued:

“It would be impossible to ignore the fact that, in the eyes of millions of our countrymen and women, you are a patriot and a leader. Even those who differ from you in politics look upon you as a man of high ideals. You had every chance to reach the greatest height of human achievement.

“But halfway along the road, you allowed avarice to corrupt you. It is incomprehensible how a man in your position could not in your own conscience, recognise corruption for what it is.

“In so doing, you have not only betrayed your party cause, for which you have spoken so eloquently, but also the oath of office which you have taken and subscribed before your sovereign ruler, and above all the law of which you are its servant.”

The judicial giant wasn’t mincing words. His Lordship had more to say, adding:

“[T]he evidence plainly show that you devised a scheme of unparallelled cunning and committed an almost perfect crime. But crime, though it hath no tongue, speaks out at times.

“Your method is your own doing because even the long arm of coincidence cannot explain the multitude of circumstances against you, and they destroy the presumption of innocence with which the law clothed you.”

It is not surprising that judge should find it most appropriate that the country be reminded of the late Raja Azlan Shah’s “immortal words”. These were more than “national embarrassment”. –  December 13, 2021.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.