COMMENT | Federal Court decision affirms rule of law

COMMENT | Most Malaysians heaved a huge sigh of relief yesterday when the Federal Court affirmed that Najib Abdul Razak was guilty of one charge of abuse of power, three for criminal breach of trust and three for money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC International money. It quickly perished any thoughts of extrajudicial measures in the case.

Despite the presence of some 300 Najib “supporters”, there was no untoward incident. The verdict finally crushed the opinion of many Malaysians that Najib would never end up in jail despite the overwhelming weight of evidence as demonstrated in the hearings.

Najib went straight to jail at Kajang to serve his sentence of 12 years. He also has to pay a fine of RM210 million or serve a further five years.

For all the hoopla surrounding the SRC trial, it was really an open-and-shut case. That it was prolonged for over four years from the time charges were filed is because of a combination of factors, not least the attempts to delay the proceedings at every turn which Malaysians are now very familiar with and sick of.

The court proceedings clearly showed that RM42 million went into his account...