Malaysian High Court Rejects Last Review Of Ex-PM Najib Razak's Verdict

Najib Razak. (Wikimedia Commons/Firdaus Latif)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's High Court on Friday rejected the efforts of the jailed former prime minister, Najib Razak, to review corruption sentences related to the multi-billion dollar scandal at state financial institutions 1MDB.

The court's refusal ended the judicial efforts that Najib could take to oppose the guilty verdict.

Federal Court Judge Vernon Ong said a panel of five people decided in a 4-1 vote to reject Najib's request regarding a review of the verdict.

There was no miscarriage of justice in last year's high court ruling, he said, adding that a review was only provided in "very limited and extraordinary circumstances".

"In the final analysis, and taking into account all circumstances, we are restricted to saying that the applicant (Najib) is the cause of his own harm," Ong said.

Najib was jailed last year, after the Malaysian Federal Court upheld a guilty verdict and a 12-year prison sentence handed down by a lower court. Najib (69) was charged after he lost the general election in 2018.

Investigators say about $4.5 billion has been stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), founded by Najib in his first year as prime minister in 2009, with more than $1 billion in accounts linked to Najib.

He was found guilty by a high court in 2020 of criminal offenses over trust, abuse of power, and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. He lost all his appeals. Najib himself consistently pleaded not guilty.

With today's verdict, Najib can no longer sue the verdict in court. However, he has applied for pardon from the kingdom, which if successful will see him released without having to serve a 12-year prison sentence.

It is known, Najib also faces three other trials related to corruption in 1MDB and other government agencies.