The High Court yesterday convicted former PM Najib Razak on all seven counts of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering in connection with one of his two SRC International trials, a historic decision that will have a far-reaching impact on the national and political stage. 
 
The decision sends a warning to all and sundry that no one is safe from prosecution for corrupt practices, even ex-prime ministers (or ex-PMs twice over😉😉). And, should Jibby end up in jail, that will leave a huge power vacuum within BN and Perikatan, despite his diminished status even before his conviction.
 
But more on that later. Let’s focus on the trial proceedings right now.
 
In convicting Najib of charges connected to RM42 million taken from SRC International, judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said testimony confirmed that fugitive financier and portly pirate Jho Low was indeed involved in the dastardly deed and noted that our man Jibby had failed to prove his signatures on certain important documents had been forged. Nazlan said all roads in the SRC International case led to proverbial Rome (that’s the Jibster, in case you may be confused). 
 
Following the verdict, Najib’s lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah asked for mitigation to be heard on Monday as he wanted to call one or two witnesses for the process, but this was objected to by the prosecution. In the end, Nazlan ruled that mitigation would start immediately. 
 
In mitigation, Shafee maintained his client’s innocence, arguing that the only thing he was guilty of was “over-trusting” certain people and that he had not acted with bad motives. He also cited other mitigating factors like Jibby not having any outstanding traffic summonses (what the devil does this have to do with anything?), that SRC International was set up with genuine intentions (again, we fail to see what this has to do with the trial) and that the former PM had given his full cooperation to the authorities. 
 
The prosecution, however, asked for a deterrent sentence to be handed down as this was a first-of-its-kind case which had tarnished Malaysia’s image thanks to the kleptocracy involved. For the abuse of power charge, the prosecution sought a RM210 million fine plus mandatory jail sentence, for the CBT charges they sought jail terms of between two and 20 years, and for the money laundering charges, jail terms of 15 years and RM210 million fine. 
 
Once both the defence and prosecution had finished, Najib delivered an off-the-cuff speech from the dock in his own mitigation. He detailed his achievements in his nine-year tenure as PM, saying that he had delivered a “fairer, gentler society” by abolishing the Internal Security Act, and was responsible for “massive” infrastructure development and a robust economic growth, even swearing a sumpah laknat for what must have been the umpteenth time that he had no inkling that RM42 million was taken from SRC International. When in doubt, whip out the holy book, eh?
 
OK. We gotta say this. Sure, you oversaw the repeal of the ISA, but this was replaced by the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act which, in many people’s opinions, is just as bad. Oh, and what about the the equally oppressive Anti-Fake News Act you introduced?

And yes, we can’t deny there were many infrastructural development projects and robust economic growth during your tenure, but how much went into the pockets of cronies (which was likely the case during the time of your predecessors as well) and how much better could it have been without the whole 1MDB-SRC International affair? Also, how are these mitigating factors? You were literally just doing your job, dude!
 
Anyhow, after hearing mitigation, Nazlan handed down jail term of 72 years and fine of RM210 million. Najib received a prison term of 12 years for the abuse of power charge and 10 years on each of the three CBT and three money laundering charges. However, Nazlan ordered the prison sentences to run concurrently (meaning at the same time), so Jibby will only serve 12 years. 
 
Despite the sentences, however, Jibs avoided being put in an orange jumpsuit and taken away to prison, at least for now, when Nazlan granted a stay of execution pending appeal.

Nazlan cited Najib’s ‘special circumstances’ in allowing the stay, namely that being thrown behind bars would inconvenience him and impinge on his right to defend himself in his other cases. Jibby’s defence also argued that he can’t pay the RM210 million fine thanks to the RM1.69 billion Inland Revenue Board bill he’s facing for overdue tax.

But don’t worry. The Jibster didn’t get to talk his way out of this completely. Nazlan did increase his bail to RM1 million and ordered our beloved former leader (or is that former beloved leader?) to pay the amount immediately. 
 
Najib, the Pekan MP, can now appeal the conviction to the Court of Appeal and then to the Federal Court, the nation’s highest court, should he fail in the CoA. The whole process could take another year and should he fail in his bid to overturn his conviction in the apex court, Jibby could even avoid prison if he receives a royal pardon. 

Despite attempts being made later by certain quarters online to discredit Nazlan’s impartiality, Shafee heaped praises on the judge after proceedings, saying he was an honest man. Shafee, however, said Nazlan made honest mistakes during the trial.