KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has dismissed an application by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence team for Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah to produce the letter of authority (fiat) on his appointment as the lead prosecutor in the former prime minister’s case.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in his decision said there is no legal requirement that a letter of authority must be produced to the accused.
“The instrument of the appointment is only required to be shown to the court and not the accused,” he said, while noting however that there was a certain lack of clarity in Sulaiman’s appointment in the criminal breach of trust case against Najib involving monies from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Nazlan said the attorney-general (AG) had made it crystal clear that Sulaiman was appointed as lead prosecutor in a press release bearing the AG’s name.
“The AG had issued a media release on Aug 31 and this was exhibited in the respondent’s bundle of authority. However, the media release cannot be a substitute for a fiat,” he said.
Nazlan said since the letter has been classified as an official secret under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972, it could not be questioned in any court.
“I consider this application to be less than meritorious… in view of the above, I dismiss the application,” he said.
Earlier, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah in his submissions questioned whether the media release issued by the AG appointing Sulaiman to conduct the criminal prosecution was sufficient as there was no signature at the end of the statement.
He also argued that it was the duty of the prosecution to tender the authority letter or letter of appointment before the court, adding that the production of the document is a prerequisite.
Meanwhile, Sulaiman in his reply refused to produce the letter as it has been classified under the OSA.
“The AG had personally prosecuted the matter before and had publicly stated that he was handing the case over to advocate solicitor namely Sulaiman Abdullah,” he said.
The application for Sulaiman to produce the letter of authority of his appointment as the lead prosecutor in Najib’s case was filed by the defence team on Nov 26.
On July 4, the Pekan member of parliament was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for gratification involving RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd since 2011.
Najib, as a public servant, was alleged to have misappropriated RM27 million, RM5 million, and RM10 million belonging to SRC International when he acted as its adviser.
The offence falls under Section 409 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum 20 years’ imprisonment and whipping, upon conviction.
He was also charged with abuse of power to secure RM42 million loan from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) for SRC International.
He was also charged with using his position for a RM42 million payout to himself when he took part or was involved in making the decision to provide government guarantees for a RM4 billion loan from KWAP.
The charge under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act carries a sentence of up to 20 years’ jail, or a fine of RM10,000 or five times the bribe amount, whichever is higher.