Bar Pans Umno Top Brass For Sowing Mistrust In Judiciary

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The Malaysian Bar has accused Umno’s top leaders of attempting to win the “court of public opinion” by issuing statements that seriously erode judicial integrity.
Its president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn said that such statements were aimed at perpetuating distrust and suspicion toward the judiciary.
“It is for obvious reasons that politicians should not be trying to win in the court of public opinion by issuing statements without understanding the application of law and the concept of relevancy, vis-à-vis the subject matter of a case.
“This sort of behaviour is tantamount to an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the law.
“It is pertinent to note that the exercise of judicial authority is a fundamental aspect of the judiciary under our constitutional structure,” Cheah said in a statement yesterday.
“This allows judges to decide on a case-by-case basis, based on the merits of each case presented before them, and cogent reasons for decisions are given in the form of grounds of judgment,” she added.
Malaysian Bar president Karen CheahThis comes after Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and party deputy president Mohamad Hasan criticised the Federal Court for dismissing former premier Najib Abdul Razak's attempt to introduce new evidence in his final appeal for his conviction over the SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption case.
They had suggested that Najib's attempt to introduce new evidence was rejected due to a “technicality”
The new evidence, according to Najib's defence team, was that High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali should have disqualified himself from presiding over the trial.
Nazlan eventually found Najib guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering in relation to RM42 million from state-owned SRC International. The former prime minister was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and a fine of RM210 million.
Among others, Najib's defence team argued that Nazlan was a former employee at Maybank at a time when the bank did business with entities involved with SRC International.
Fresh evidence not new
Cheah said that Zahid and Mohamad conveniently failed to acknowledge that the apex court rejected the introduction of additional evidence by Najib’s team based on laws and precedents.
She noted that the evidence was not new, as it had already been served on Najib during the earlier 1MDB trial on Nov 4, 2019, which was a month before the defence’s case in the SRC trial.
“The Federal Court also found that the role of justice Nazlan, the former High Court judge who had convicted and sentenced Najib in his earlier trial, had no discreet or undisclosed interest in SRC International’s establishment to render him biased.
“His former employment with Maybank would not have had any bearing on Najib’s charge of abuse of power.
“There is no evidence or causal link that his former professional association with Maybank gave him any particular knowledge to sustain the factual and legal findings made against Najib on the issue of abuse of power,” she said.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd GhazaliThe Bar president also called out the “flippant” and “irresponsible” allegations of bribery against Nazlan which Najib had formally withdrawn in his affidavit in relation to the same application this month.
Cheah also noted that the court found Najib’s affidavit had failed to state exactly what the evidence will prove in relation to the charges against him.
“Based on the reasoned and considered judgment of the court, the Malaysian Bar firmly believes that we should respect the decision that their ladyships and lordships have arrived at.
“It is not the place for politicians to sow discord amongst the rakyat by releasing statements that could potentially tarnish the reputation of the judicial system in the eyes of the public.” - FMT

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