PUTRAJAYA: Datuk V Sithambaram said the Federal Court decision today dismissing Datuk Seri Najib Razak's appeal to overturn his conviction has finally brought closure to the SRC International case.
He said today's decision had effectively ended all legal avenues open to Najib to appeal the case further.
The lead prosecutor, who is a senior lawyer known for his handling of criminal cases and who was specially brought in to handle the SRC trials, said the decision by a panel of five federal court judges to dismiss Najib's appeal was also a vindication for the prosecution.
"This decision is a vindication that the charges against Najib are legally mounted and not politically motivated by the prosecution," he said.
Sithambaram, who spoke to reporters after the court ruling, also pointed out that the prosecution took no joy in the successful prosecution of the case.
He said the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) sole motivation had been to ensure that the rule of law prevailed in the SRC case.
"The biggest message to politicians or other likely offenders is that this prosecution has shown that no man in this land is above the law.
"I want to stress that this successful prosecution sends a chilling message to all would be offenders that the law will catch up with you and punish the guilty," he said.
Earlier, the top court dismissed Najib's application to review his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International funds.
The bench in a 4 to 1 decision, rejected Najib's appeal after ruling that he was actually the author of his own misfortune for the way his appeal hearings had gone.
Najib, 70, had sought to review the Federal Court's own decision on Aug 23 last year. The court had then affirmed his conviction and sentence, which has seen him jailed 12 years and fined RM210 million.
He was first found guilty by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 28, 2020 of three counts of criminal breach of trust and three counts of money laundering of RM42 million of SRC funds between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015.
He was also convicted of abusing his power with regards to the RM4 billion Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) loan, which the cabinet approved via a government guarantee in two meetings that he chaired in August 2011 and March 2012.