KUALA LUMPUR: SEVERAL high-profile cases reached their climax this year, with the courts delivering decisions that reverberated far beyond the courtroom.
NAJIB CONVICTED AGAIN
In what is arguably the biggest case of the year, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was sentenced on Dec 26 to a total of 165 years in jail and fined RM13.4 billion for abuse of power and money laundering involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.
However, Najib will serve only 15 years as the jail terms are to run concurrently. Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has filed an appeal against the conviction and sentence.
Earlier on Dec 22, High Court judge Alice Loke dismissed Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his six-year jail term for the SRC International Sdn Bhd case under house arrest, ruling that the royal addendum was invalid.
She said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could not exercise the royal prerogative of mercy independently and must act on the advice of the Pardons Board, in accordance with Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
In June, Najib was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) over three money-laundering charges, involving RM27 million, linked to SRC.
This followed the prosecution’s failure to provide the defence with hundreds of documents related to the trial, despite the charges being filed as early as 2019.
A-GC DROPS ROSMAH APPEAL
Meanwhile, Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, got a reprieve in one of her cases after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (A-GC) decided against appealing her acquittal in the RM7 million money-laundering and tax evasion case.
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However, her appeal against a 10-year prison sentence and RM970 million fine linked to a solar hybrid school project is still pending at the Court of Appeal.
POLITICIANS JAILED FOR CRIMINAL OFFENCES
In March, former Sabah infrastructure minister Datuk Peter Anthony was sent to jail immediately after losing his final appeal to set aside his guilty conviction.
He will have to serve a three-year prison term and pay a RM50,000 fine for falsifying documents related to a maintenance and service contract at Universiti Malaysia Sabah in 2014.
In October, former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong was jailed after the Federal Court dismissed his final appeal against his conviction for raping his Indonesian maid in 2019.
SYED SADDIQ‘S CBT SAGA
The Muar member of parliament saw a major turn in his case in June when the Court of Appeal quashed the seven-year prison sentence, RM10 million fine and two strokes of the rotan previously imposed by the High Court over the RM1 million abetting criminal breach of trust charge.
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His case is now before the Federal Court, where a three-member bench had made an unusual move early in December when it urged both parties to reassess their submissions, before the apex court delivers its verdict.
The prosecution had said it would proceed with its appeal following instructions from A-G Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar.
DUTA ENCLAVE LAND DISPUTE SETTLED
The land dispute between the government and Semantan Estate Sdn Bhd over 107ha in Kuala Lumpur’s Duta Enclave was one of the year’s most significant legal battles.
The decades-long case culminated in the Federal Court ruling that the land belonged to the government, even though it was acquired unlawfully. The apex court also ordered the government to compensate Semantan Estate an undetermined amount.
SABAH’S 40PC REVENUE DISPUTE
The Kota Kinabalu High Court, in its Oct 17 ruling, directed the federal government to conduct a review with Sabah to determine the state’s 40 per cent entitlement for each financial year from 1974 to 2021.
The decision placed renewed focus on Sabah’s long-standing claim under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), with the court examining constitutional obligations on revenue sharing between the federal government and the state.
THE DISAPPEARANCES OF AMRI CHE MAT AND PASTOR KOH
In November, the High Court awarded RM3 million in damages to the family of missing activist Amri Che Mat and RM37 million to Pastor Raymond Koh’s family.
In Amri’s case, it ruled that police and government officers acted “unconstitutionally” in failing to properly investigate his disappearance.
In Koh’s case, it said the police never conducted investigations in a meaningful manner.
The rulings were widely seen as a watershed moment for accountability and human rights in Malaysia, setting a powerful precedent on the state’s duty to conduct effective investigations into enforced disappearances.
ZAYN RAYYAN’S MOTHER CONVICTED
Ismanira Abdul Manaf, the mother of the murdered autistic child Zayn Rayyan Abdul Matin, was convicted of child neglect and sentenced to five years’ jail in October.
On Dec 23, the High Court dismissed her application for a stay of sentence, ruling that no special circumstances existed.
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Zayn Rayyan was reported missing on Dec 5, 2023 after Ismanira picked him up from school at about noon. He was later found dead with bruises on his face and body, including strangulation marks.
ZARA QAIRINA INQUEST, TRIAL
The ongoing inquest into 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir’s fatal fall on July 16 put the spotlight on the safety of students in schools, including from bullying.
The proceedings, which saw teachers and schoolmates testify, have drawn strong public interest and calls for greater accountability in protecting students.
Separately, five teens were charged and pleaded not guilty to using abusive words on Zara Qairina.
GISB EXECUTIVES JAILED
On Nov 7, Global Ikhwan Services Bhd (GISB) chief executive officer Datuk Nasaruddin Md Ali and 12 others were sentenced to 13 months’ jail after pleading guilty to an alternative charge of being members of an unlawful society.
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They were, however, released immediately, having already spent the equivalent time in custody following their arrests last year.
PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY ACT
In a landmark decision on July 16, the Federal Court struck down Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act, which criminalised the failure to give five days’ notice before holding an assembly.
The apex court ruled that the provision was unconstitutional as it imposed a disproportionate restriction on the right to peaceful assembly guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.
ONLINE SPEECH LAWS
In what was another landmark ruling, the Court of Appeal struck down the words “offensive” and “annoy” in Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act on July 16.
The court found that criminalising online speech that was merely offensive or annoying imposed a disproportionate restriction on freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.
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