KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — The Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court has denied allegations that the Chief Justice is conspiring to hasten the graft trials and convict Umno leaders Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Najib Razak, calling the rumour malicious and intended to “subvert” justice.
The source of the allegation was believed to be from a posting made by a Facebook user by the name of Shahrir Samad - Tok Uban. The chief registrar’s office said it has lodged a police report against the account owner, and denied claims that the CJ had met with certain politicians to discuss the trials of the two Umno leaders.
“This office would like to stress that the parties responsible for making and spreading the allegations had intended to tarnish the image and cause public distrust of the judiciary,” it said in a statement issued this evening.
“Apart from that these allegations were also meant to subvert the administration of justice in the trials of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that are still ongoing and yet to be concluded,” it added.
It is unclear if the account owner is directly linked to Umno supreme council member Tan Sri Shahri Samad, who is also on trial for corruption. He had been accused of committing power abuse during his tenure as head of the Federal Land Development Agency.
The implicated posting is believed to be the source of a currently circulating rumour about a plot by the attorney general, the CJ and Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to expedite Najib and Zahid’s trials and secure convictions, as a way to circumvent Umno’s return to power.
Zahid has issued a statement claiming the alleged plot as confirmation that the corruption and money laundering charges against him and Najib were trumped up.
Earlier today, Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali — who heard and convicted Najib over the misappropriation of RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds — also lodged a police report over false allegations made against him.
The complaint was filed following an article by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin on the blog Malaysia Today, with the article dated April 20 carrying the title “Judge Mohd Nazlan being investigated for unexplained RM1 million in his bank account”.
The judiciary said the judge — who was formerly a High Court judge and was elevated to be a Court of Appeal judge — had said the article had malicious intent and claims that had no basis.
