Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng/File photo
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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s new prison accommodation may be less than an hour’s drive from his mansion in Kuala Lumpur’s affluent Bukit Tunku neighborhood, but it’s a world away from away from the luxury you are used to.
Najib lost his final appeal on a 12-year prison sentence for corruption on Tuesday, and was taken under heavy security to the country’s largest jail in Kajang, a sprawling complex southeast of the capital that houses up to 5,000 inmates. and includes a facility for women.
First convicted in July 2020, Najib had been out on bail pending appeals. The country’s highest court upheld his guilty verdict on criminal charges of breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving around $10 million from a former unit of the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.
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The son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, Najib served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, when public anger over the multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at 1MDB led to electoral defeat.
Having been golf partners with US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and other world leaders, the British-educated son of Malaysian nobility will now count murderers and drug dealers among his fellow prisoners at Kajang.
One of them, Azilah Hadri, was a member of Najib’s security detail before he was convicted of murder in the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Azilah is currently on death row, while a fellow police officer who was sentenced with him sought refuge in Australia, where he remains.
In a 2019 court filing seeking to overturn his conviction, Azilah accused Najib of ordering the murder, a claim the former prime minister denied. The Federal Court rejected Azilah’s request in 2020.
The Department of Corrections did not respond to an emailed request for comment about the conditions Najib will face in jail. On Facebook, he denied as fake news a post by another user that said prisons provided special privileges for “VIP inmates,” such as televisions and air conditioning.
Otherwise, rights groups say Malaysian prisons suffer from overcrowding, poor hygiene and a lack of medical facilities, with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and scabies common.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who spent a total of eight years incarcerated in another Malaysian prison, said he experienced inhumane and degrading conditions, including being served rotten fish “all the time”, according to media reports.
However, Najib’s former deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, told parliament in 2016 that Anwar was given privileges based on medical advice, including a personalized hospital bed, a desk, hot showers and a special diet.
Anwar also had access to the prison library, received regular visitors and was allowed out for hospital treatment and trial, according to Ahmad Zahid.
Anwar was jailed twice on charges of corruption and sodomy, which he says are politically motivated. He was pardoned by the king and released days after Najib’s 2018 electoral defeat.
MORE CASES
The only times Najib is likely to leave Kajang are when he is escorted to court for hearings in four other cases related to corruption at 1MDB and other government agencies.
Authorities in the United States and Malaysia say more than $4.5 billion was stolen.
Malaysian investigators say they traced more than $1 billion to Najib’s bank accounts, but he strongly denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The opulent lifestyle of Najib and his family came to light with the discovery of around $275 million in cash, jewelry, and other luxury items in the residences used by Najib and his family.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, has pleaded not guilty in a corruption case unrelated to 1MDB. The court is set to deliver her verdict at her trial on September 1.
($1 = RM4.4800)
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Written by Rozanna Latiff; Edited by Simon Cameron-Moore
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source: www.reuters.com