Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak will begin his 12-year prison sentence from Tuesday onwards. His final appeal was rejected by the top court of Malaysia. The graft was linked to the looting of the 1MBD state fund. Razak is Malaysia’s first former Prime Minister to be imprisoned.
In five different separate trials for the 1MBD corruption case, Najib has been found guilty on a total number of 42 charges.
The ex-PM will serve his sentence in the Kajang prison facility located on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur.
The federal court panel of Judges rejected Razak’s appeal as it lacked merits and was so inconsistent that it could not raise a reasonable doubt for the prosecution case. The panel also declared that the High Court Judge made the correct decision in 2020 to sentence Najib.
In the final verdict, the court also said that Najib’s case is a simple and straightforward case of corruption, abuse of power, and breach of trust in the nation.
Since Najib’s sentence in 2020, he has been out on bail due to several pending appeals but the court on Tuesday ordered him to immediately begin his sentence as well as pay a staggering 210 million ringgit or $47 million.
The case in 2020
In 2020, Najib Razak was found guilty of money laundering and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment with a fine of $51 million. Shortly after taking up power in 2009, Razak set up a small development fund which was named 1MBD. Since the fund’s establishment, the investigators working on the case had found at least $4.5 billion were stolen by Najib and his associates.
Najib claims to be innocent
Since the case began, Najib Razak has put on a veil of innocence. For his final appeal and just before the verdict, Razak had protested inside the court by standing up on the dock and making several statements about the federal courts’ countless refusals to postpone the hearings.
Because of the top court’s refusals, Razak claims that the court had treated him unfairly and that he was not even allowed to defend himself with proper evidence as the court case was purposefully rushed through.
In his triad of complaints, Najib also accused the court because of a leaked verdict on public platforms, he said that if the verdict leak was true, then the court’s actions were “judicial misconduct of the highest order.”
In response, Chief Justice Maimun Tuan said that Najib’s lawyers constantly failed to make up new arguments despite being given time to gather evidence and do preparation for the hearing; that’s why no further appeal hearings will take place for Najib.
After the verdict was made, Najib appeared to be in shock and was quickly surrounded by his family.
The turning point for Malaysia’s politics
Experts believe that Malaysia is going forward in a new direction as this case has proved to be historical. A senior leader of the country was just held accountable for his actions which are new for the southeast Asian regions as corruption runs rampant in most parts of Asia.
This case is a testimony to the iron rule of laws in Malaysia as well as the support and demand for the implementation of strict laws in Malaysia, no matter who the person involved is.
Where is Malaysia headed after this case?
Despite Najib being found guilty in front of the federal court, his influence on the Malaysian political network continues to remain strong. The current government is still led by an organization made by Najib, known as the United Malays National Organization.
The overall state of the island nation should be headed in a positive direction where justice is served to whomever the judiciary finds guilty of abusing their powers. The state of the country seems to be heading in a very positive direction, and that is because of the efforts made by the judiciary towards a more just and fair justice system.
