Najib realised he made a mistake trusting a certain individual too much
The senior lawyer said that he was asked to come back after the former Pekan MP realised he made a mistake “trusting a certain individual too much”.
(FMT) – Shafee Abdullah said he had been asked by Najib Razak to represent him once again in the former prime minister’s appeal against his SRC International corruption conviction and jail sentence.
The senior lawyer said that he was asked to come back after the former Pekan MP realised he made a mistake “trusting a certain individual too much”.
“Hence, I came back,” he told reporters when met outside the court.
In July, Najib dropped Shafee and appointed a new defence team led by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim to represent him in his final SRC appeal at the Federal Court.
However, Shafee returned three weeks later.
Shafee said that Najib was aware that the new law firm needed time but acknowledged that in a desperate situation a man would “grab any opportunity there is available”.
“To make it worse, I was overseas during that period.”
In August, the apex court upheld the conviction and 12-year jail sentence as well as a RM210 million fine on Najib for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC funds.
A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dismissed Najib’s final appeal to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 28, 2020.
Shafee also said that the Federal Court should know that no lawyer could read through “bundles and bundles” of documents in a short time, adding that even four months would be insufficient.
Previously, lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik requested the Federal Court to postpone the SRC appeal for “three to four months”, stressing that the new defence team only took over the case less than a month ago.
Hisyam said his team was given “voluminous” appeal records, adding that they would need “sufficient time to prepare” and argue their case.
However, the Federal Court bench disallowed his request.
“In my 46 years of criminal law practice, I have never come across a lawyer saying ‘I have just taken over the case so give me an extension’ and got rejected by the court,” Shafee added.
