M Santhananaban
Yesterday’s marathon High Court sitting began at about 09:00 and did not end until after 21:00.
There was, of course, the break for Friday prayers and a short break late in the evening when the judge, Collin Lawrence Sequerah, stood down to deliberate on the sentencing.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, was by day’s end, sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and fined RM11.4bn.
It was the end of the 1MDB–Tanore case at the High Court, a long trial involving the highest possible level white-collar crime, where a prime minister betrayed the faith, confidence and trust placed in him by the people, by Parliament and by his cabinet.
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More significantly, he betrayed the trust of his cohorts and colleagues and damaged the reputation of the country.
The judge who meted out the sentence had limited discretion because the law had been formulated in such a way that integrity and impeccable conduct are paramount considerations in our public service domain. Yet, the maximum 20-year term was not imposed given the age of the defendant.
It was a sad day for Najib and an equally trying day for the able prosecution team and the judge to see through this case.
The prosecution team and judge must be saluted for their painstaking efforts and perseverance in rebutting a defence which was based on fabrication and a mixture of fact and fantasy.
The defence team must have run out of steam to suggest at the 11th hour that the judge in the SRC case, Nazlan Ghazali, had erred in imposing the earlier sentence. That sentence was mandatory and was upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
Our laws are made by Parliament on the initiative of the government. These stiff sentences are meant to safeguard and uphold the integrity and sovereignty of the country and to discourage misconduct at all levels of the public service.
Najib would be fulfilling his duty to the country and the Constitution by serving out his sentence discreetly and peacefully. At some stage, the sentence could be reviewed or revisited, subject to the law.
It has been a painful and awkward time for the people of Malaysia. Let us hope such outrageous or traitorous actions will not happen again.
Dato’ M Santhananaban is a former Malaysian ambassador with 45 years of public sector experience.
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