The court's decision on Najib's cases does not affect his other trials - Haniff

SHAH ALAM - Its still not over for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak even after the High Court had acquitted him of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) audit report tampering charges yesterday.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said several other cases are waiting for Najib and the decision on Friday will not affect the trial of his other cases.

"It is different cases so the decision today will not have an impact on the other cases against Najib.

"The recent decision to acquit and release Najib had nothing to do with other pending cases such as charges for breach of trust involving payment to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and also related cases of misappropriation of 1MDB funds," he told Sinar Premium on Friday.

The High Court on Friday acquitted Najib and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kandasamy of the charge of tampering the final 1MDB audit report to avoid legal action.

Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled this decision after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the duo.

Commenting further, Mohamed Haniff said generally the people need to be confident and mature to understand the court's decision in any case based on evidence, facts and legal truth.

"The court does not take into account emotional factors or the person's background whether he is a political leader, an artist or even an ordinary person... the court has shown that he (Najib) was found guilty during the embezzlement case of the SRC International Sdn Bhd Company's funds.

"We have to see how the court provide reasons to the decision. Why did the court acquit Najib? Is it because there was no complete evidence showing that Najib ordered changes made to the final audit report?

"If the report was tampered with, there should be proof that Najib had ordered it then it can be proven Najib did it... So there are so many things to look into vigilantly in relation to the law," he said.

Meanwhile, touching on the subject whether Najib will be given the chance to be released due to the decision, Mohamed Hanif said the question was irrelevant.

"I don't care about political issues or popularity, we have to accept the fact that Najib is still in prison if we want to discuss this matter," he said.

Najib is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Kajang Prison after his final appeal to the Federal Court, to set aside his conviction, jail sentence and fine imposed over the embezzlement of RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd's funds.

What other high-profile cases will Najib face? - Najib is still facing three more court cases including the trial over the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion funds from 1MDB which is at the prosecution stage, with a total of 44 witnesses that have been called by the prosecution to testify.

- Two more cases of criminal breach of trust involving RM6.6 billion over payment to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and money laundering involving SRC International Sdn Bhd funds involving RM27 million, each of these cases is still at the case management stage.