JAILED former prime minister Najib Razak has filed a petition at the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking a retrial of his SRC International corruption case or his full release from prison.

Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah claimed that the Federal Court ruling on the case last year had “serious defects” and went against the “rules of international justice”.

“The Federal Court proceedings failed to accord him a reasonable opportunity to argue his case and denied his lawyers adequate time to prepare.

“The court did not allow his defence team even to make submissions in the appeal against his sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment.

“In essence, Najib had been sent to prison without the opportunity to defend himself at the Federal Court,” Shafee said this afternoon.

The lawyer told reporters the petition was filed this afternoon.

Shafee said his team were not allowed the time needed to read the tens of thousands of pages of appeal papers during the final few days of the case.

In his argument, Shafee said, since independence, it was unprecedented for a court to refuse an adjournment when the accused sought to change counsel.

“It was shocking to us that we lawyers were blamed for not being prepared. We were asked why we took his case when we know we cannot be prepared. If we were at fault, why is our client being punished?

“In this case, there is a total fundamental breach of free trial,” he added.

Shafee then cited the case of Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who had sought UNWGAD intervention in overturning his corruption case.

UNWGAD had also in 2015 demanded the release of Anwar Ibrahim as the UN group reportedly called Anwar’s detention arbitrary and illegal, and that his treatment in prison violated international prohibitions against “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.

However, Wisma Putra rejected UNWGAD’s position.

Shafee then said that he was told by a reliable source that the UN would hear Najib’s petition soon and would ask Wisma Putra for any recommendation.

Najib was originally convicted in 2020, when then High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found him guilty of seven criminal charges for misappropriating RM42 million of SRC funds.

The judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine. The decision was subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.

On July 22, 2022, in his final appeal to the Federal Court, the panel rejected Najib’s request to postpone the hearing dates after he fired his legal team.

On July 25, Najib discharged Messrs Shafee & Co and took on Messrs Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew & Partners to represent him in his final appeal at the apex court.

On August 10, Najib’s new legal team, led by Zaid, said they would discharge themselves from the case if the Federal Court went ahead with the trial. – January 5, 2023.