Malaysia ex-PM Najib Razak moves from luxurious lifestyle to lockup

Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak, center, sits in a police vehicle under heavy security while on his way to the country’s largest jailhouse in Kajang, southeast of the capital. (AFP)
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Updated 24 August 2022
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Malaysia ex-PM Najib Razak moves from luxurious lifestyle to lockup

  • Former leader lost his final appeal on a 12-year jail sentence for corruption on Tuesday
  • Najib Razak taken under heavy security to the country’s largest jailhouse in Kajang

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s new prison lodgings may be less than an hour’s drive from his mansion in Kuala Lumpur’s affluent Bukit Tunku neighborhood, but it is a world away from the luxury he is used to.
Najib lost his final appeal on a 12-year jail sentence for corruption on Tuesday, and was taken under heavy security to the country’s largest jailhouse in Kajang — a sprawling complex southeast of the capital that holds up to 5,000 prisoners and includes a women’s facility .
First convicted in July 2020, Najib had been out on bail pending appeals. The country’s top court upheld his guilty verdict over criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering charges for illegally receiving about $10 million from a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, Najib held the premiership from 2009 to 2018, when public anger over the multi-billion dollar graft scandal at 1MDB brought election defeat.
Having been golf buddies with US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and other world leaders, the British-educated son of Malay nobility will now count murderers and drug traffickers among his fellow inmates in Kajang.
One of them, Azilah Hadri, was a member of Najib’s security detail before he was convicted of murder for the 2006 killing of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Azilah is currently on death row, while a fellow policeman who was convicted along with him sought sanctuary in Australia, where he remains.
In a 2019 court filing seeking to set aside his conviction, Azilah accused Najib of ordering the murder, a claim the ex-premier denied. The Federal Court rejected Azilah’s application in 2020.
The Prisons Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment on what conditions Najib will face in jail. On Facebook, it denied as fake news a post by another user saying that the 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 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 at another Malaysian prison, has 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 obtained privileges based on medical advice, including a customized hospital bed, a desk, hot showers, and a special diet.
Anwar was also given access to the prison library, received regular visitors, and was allowed to leave for hospital treatments and to attend trial, according to Ahmad Zahid.
Anwar was jailed twice on corruption and sodomy charges, which he maintains were politically motivated. He was pardoned by the king and released days after Najib’s election defeat in 2018.
The only times that Najib is likely to leave Kajang, are when he is escorted to court to attend hearings in four other cases related to corruption at 1MDB and other government agencies.
US and Malaysian authorities say over $4.5 billion was stolen.
Malaysian investigators say they traced more than $1 billion to Najib’s bank accounts, but he has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The opulent lifestyle of Najib and his family came to light with the discovery of about $275 million worth of cash, jewelry, and other luxury goods in 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 its verdict in her trial on Sept. 1.


Kremlin says former minister’s suicide is shocking

Updated 2 sec ago
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Kremlin says former minister’s suicide is shocking

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the suicide of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit just hours after his dismissal by President Vladimir Putin was shocking.
Starovoit was found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound and the principal hypothesis is that he took his own life, state investigators said on Monday, hours after Putin fired him.
A presidential decree published on Monday gave no reason for the dismissal of Starovoit after barely a year in the job.

Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

Updated 13 min 17 sec ago
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Philippines summons Chinese envoy over sanctions against former senator

  • Francisco Tolentino was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over ‘egregious conduct’ detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing
  • He lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May

MANILA: The Philippines’ foreign ministry has summoned China’s ambassador to Manila over Beijing’s imposition of sanctions against former senator Francis Tolentino, the president’s office said on Tuesday.

Tolentino, who lost his bid for a second term in the Philippines’ midterm elections in May, was banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau over “egregious conduct” detrimental to relations between Manila and Beijing.

Tolentino helped in approving laws last year that defined the country’s sea lanes and maritime zones, which China opposed. He also accused the Chinese embassy of contracting a firm that maintains troll farms to sow disinformation.

“The imposition of punitive measures ... is inconsistent with the norms of mutual respect and dialogue that underpin relations between two equal sovereign states,” presidential press officer Claire Castro told a briefing.

Manila’s foreign ministry said it summoned Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian on Friday. China’s embassy in Manila said in a statement the ambassador notified the Philippines’ foreign ministry of China’s decision to impose sanctions on Tolentino.

“It should be noted that such sanctions fall purely within China’s legal prerogative, and there are consequences for hurting China’s interests,” the embassy said.

The Chinese foreign ministry has previously accused some Filipino politicians of making “malicious remarks and moves” that hurt ties between the two nations.

Relations between China and the Philippines have soured under President Ferdinand Marcos over a longstanding dispute in the South China Sea.

In 2016, an international tribunal ruled Beijing’s sweeping claims to the waterway had no basis in international law. China has rejected the decision. Several other countries in Southeast Asia also claim parts of the South China Sea.


Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

Updated 49 min 25 sec ago
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Russia main election monitor closes amid crackdown

  • Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing of its co chair, Grigory Melkonyants, as it put its participants “at risk”

MOSCOW: Russia’s main independent voting observer Golos, which monitored the country’s increasingly tightly-controlled elections for 25 years, announced its closure on Tuesday, two months after its co-chair was jailed.
Golos — which means “voice” in Russian — had for years meticulously recorded voting fraud across the huge country as elections under President Vladimir Putin’s long rule turned into a ritual with little real choice.
Putin faced no real competition at the last presidential election in 2024 and a domestic crackdown accompanying Moscow’s Ukraine offensive has made voicing different views dangerous.
“Justice, alas, does not always win — it must be fought for. And there is always the risk of losing. This is how it turned out this time,” Golos said in an online statement, adding: “Goodbye.”
The group’s co-chair Grigory Melkonyants, Russia’s most respected independent election observer, was sentenced to five years in prison in May as part of the Kremlin’s sweeping crackdown.
Golos said it had “no choice” but to end its activity after the sentencing as it put its participants “at risk.”
Melkonyants, 44, was found guilty of working with a European election monitoring association outlawed as an “undesirable organization” in Russia — which Golos has repeatedly denied.
Golos has described itself as an “all Russian social movement in defense of voters’ rights.”
It had observers across Russia’s regions and had for years published online reports and maps of violations during elections and had a hotline to report voting fraud.
It said Tuesday it had shut down its regional offices.
International observers have for years reported widespread voter intimidation, ballot stuffing and other election fraud in Russia.


Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Updated 08 July 2025
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Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

  • Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica

BRATISLAVA: A man went on trial Tuesday over last year’s attempted assassination of Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Juraj Cintula, appearing in court in the central city of Banská Bystrica, has been indicted on terror charges.
“Long live democracy, long live free culture,” Cintula shouted as he arrived at the Specialized Criminal Court.
The 72-year-old is accused of opening fire on Fico on May 15, 2024, as the prime minister greeted supporters following a government meeting in the town of Handlová, located 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital.
Cintula was immediately arrested and was ordered by a court to remain behind bars. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
Fico was shot in the abdomen and was transported to a hospital in nearby Banská Bystrica. He underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour surgery two days later. He has since recovered.
Cintula originally was charged with attempted murder. Prosecutors later dropped that charge and said they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack, based on evidence the investigators obtained, but they gave no further details.
Government officials initially said that they believed it was a politically motivated attack committed by a “lone wolf,” but announced later that a third party might have been involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator.”
Fico previously said he “had no reason to believe” that it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. He returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the 2023 parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.
His critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico has abandoned its pro-Western course and is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s pro-Russian stance and other policies.


China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

Updated 08 July 2025
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China says US is in ‘no position’ to point fingers over Tibet issues

  • The Dalai Lama is accused of engaging in anti-China separatist activities

BEIJING: China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the United States was in “no position” to point fingers at the country on Tibet-related issues, urging Washington to fully recognize the “sensitivity” of the issues.

Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks when asked to comment on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement on the Dalai Lama’s birthday.

Mao said at a regular press conference that the Dalai Lama “is a political exile who is engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” and has “no right” to represent the Tibetan people.