The Malaysian Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the sentence of former Prime Minister Najib Razak to 12 years in prison for corruption in the 1MDB scandal.
“We consider the appeal unfounded. We consider the guilty verdict and the verdict confirmed,” said Chief Justice Maimon Tuan Mat. “Based on the foregoing, we unanimously believe that the evidence presented during the trial irrefutably testifies to his guilt on all seven counts,” she added. It stated, “In the first place, it would be a mockery of justice if any reasonable court were to hold, in spite of such very clear evidence, that the appellant was not guilty of the seven counts against him.”
The Malaysian Supreme Court’s decision came after the court rejected a last-minute motion by lawyer Najib Razak to remove the chief justice from hearing the case on the grounds of her bias. Razak, 69, and his ruling party were defeated in the 2018 elections amid allegations of involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
Razak and those close to him have been accused of embezzling billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund and spending it on purchases ranging from luxury real estate to valuable works of art. After a lengthy legal battle, Razak was charged with abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust by transferring RM42 million ($10.1 million) from the 1MDB unit to his bank account. Notably, in December, the Court of Appeal rejected his first appeal of the decision, prompting him to file a final appeal with the Federal Court.
