PUTRAJAYA (Nov 3): The Court of Appeal here on Wednesday (Nov 3) allowed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to extend the duration of the temporary release of his passport to Dec 6, 2021 because he has to oversee the upcoming Melaka state election and subsequently go to Singapore to accompany his daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib, who gave birth to a baby boy on Monday.
The three-member Court of Appeal bench, led by Judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said and comprised Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hashim Hamzah, allowed the former premier’s application as the prosecution did not raise any objection.
The court previously allowed Najib's initial application for the temporary release of his passport from Oct 20 to Nov 22.
The duration of the temporary release of his passport is now between Oct 26 and Dec 6.
On Oct 18, news reports, quoting Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh’s statement, reported that the 15th Melaka state election will be held on Nov 20.
Abdul Ghani reportedly said the EC during a special meeting decided that the state polls need to be held within 60 days after Melaka's State Legislative Assembly was dissolved on Oct 5.
Following the Court of Appeal's approval on Wednesday, Najib now plans to leave for Singapore on Nov 21, a day after the Melaka state election, and return to the country on Dec 5.
Before allowing the extension of the passport-release duration, Justice Kamaludin, however, warned Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee that the court does not easily allow such applications, although the reasons provided by Najib were reasonable.
The former premier had to seek permission from the Court of Appeal and the Kuala Lumpur High Court for the temporary release of his passport due to ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-linked court cases against him.
The cases involve 1MDB's former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.
On July 28, 2020, the High Court sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million after the former premier was found guilty by Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali of seven charges involving SRC, which included one charge of abuse of power involving Retirement Fund (Incorporated)'s (KWAP) RM4 billion loans to SRC, three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million and three counts of money laundering.
Najib is also facing three money laundering charges involving RM27 million in SRC.