KUALA LUMPUR — How did the High Court decide on how many years to imprison and how much to fine former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the RM2.2 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial?

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is now a Federal Court judge, today released his 809-page judgment that listed in detail why he had found Najib guilty of all 25 charges in the case.

Ultimately, Najib was ordered in the 1MDB trial to serve 15 years’ of jail time simultaneously; and was fined RM11.38 billion for power abuse, and fined a separate RM2.08 billion for money laundering.

Among other things, the judge said preventing crime would be an more important factor than Najib’s public service, and also said Najib had not shown remorse for his crimes.

The judge said “public interest” is the most important factor in deciding on the sentence, which includes deterring or discouraging others from committing crime, and also discouraging convicted offenders from doing crime again.

One key theme is the need for deterrence: “This is basically, the sending of a message out from the court that if you are prepared to do the crime, then be also prepared to pay the price for it by spending the time in prison.”