KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court on Wednesday dismissed a bid by imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an April application, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a Jan. 29 pardons board meeting chaired by Sultan Abdullah, which also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine.
Najib’s counsel, Mohamed Shafee Abdullah, said it was disappointing for the High Court to rule Wednesday that the government has “no legal duty” to verify if such an order existed. He said they would file an appeal.
“The court said there is no legal duty but in terms of ethics, the government should have answered,” Shafee told a news conference at the court building.
In his application, Najib has accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office Jan. 31.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had no knowledge of such an order as he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Shafee said Najib’s application was not based on hearsay but that there was “digital evidence” of the addendum as Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz had taken a snapshot of it on his mobile phone when told by Sultan Abdullah. He said the government’s silence also implied there is such an addendum order.
“One thing is clear, not one person or any government institutions have said that this addendum doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, just say so. … If the government dare says clearly there is no addendum, we can all go home and sleep,” he said.
Najib, 70, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry on why Najib appeared to be given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
The Malaysian Bar, which represents over 20,000 lawyers, filed an application to challenge the pardons board decision that it said was illegal, unconstitutional and invalid. It said the decision made a mockery of Najib’s other ongoing criminal cases. The hearing for the Bar’s challenge started this week.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Malaysian court tosses jailed ex-Prime Minister Najib’s bid to serve graft sentence in house arrest
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Malaysian court tosses jailed ex-Prime Minister Najib’s bid to serve graft sentence in house arrest
- Najib Razak was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad
Modi to meet Putin, attend India-Russia summit after 2-year gap
- Talks on discharge of Indian nationals from Russian army expected during the trip
- Visit to change perceptions that there is a ‘drift’ in India-Russia ties, expert says
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin next week, India’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday, amid Western efforts to isolate Moscow on the world stage over its invasion of Ukraine.
Modi will be in the Russian capital on July 8-9 for the 22nd edition of the annual India-Russia summit that has been hosted alternately by the two countries since 2000.
The last meeting was held in 2021, when Putin visited Delhi, and the next was due in Moscow in 2022. It did not take place following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year.
“The 22nd annual summit between India and Russia would provide an opportunity to the two leaders to review the whole range of bilateral issues, including defense, trade linkages, investment ties, energy cooperation, S&T (science and technology),” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters in Delhi.
Talks on the release of Indian nationals serving in the Russian army are also expected during the prime minister’s trip in the wake of reports that they have been sent to fight in the Ukraine war.
“The issue of early discharge of Indian nationals who have been misled into the service in the Russian army is also expected to figure in the discussions,” Kwarta said.
The last time Modi and Putin met in person was on the sidelines of the 2022 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan. Modi skipped the SCO’s summit this week, so the meeting with the Russian president will be his first since the beginning of his third term in office.
It will also be his first bilateral visit since winning the general election last month.
“The annual summit between the two leaders is the highest mechanism to steer and drive cooperation between our two countries,” Kwarta said.
“They would also share perspectives on regional and global developments of mutual interest … (and) assess the status of bilateral engagements, groupings such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, G20, East Asia summit and the UN.”
New Delhi’s ties with Moscow span over seven decades. India has abstained from publicly criticizing Russia over the Ukraine war and did not join the slew of international sanctions slapped on it, despite pressure from Western countries, especially the US.
Russia is also India’s biggest crude oil supplier and the main source of its military hardware.
“Russia is a great power … It is a member of the Security Council with the veto and we in India remember that the veto has been exercised in our favor several times in the past,” said Nandan Unnikrishnan, who leads the Eurasia program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
“Russia is the largest country in the world. It has a (large) number of natural resources, and we are an economy that is growing, and we will soon require much larger amounts of natural resources, so for a variety of reasons, Russia is important … and it plays an important role in maintaining multipolarity in Asia.”
On the other hand, India’s partnership with the West has been growing for the last 20 years, and it is a member of the Quad. The four-state strategic security dialogue, comprising also the US, Japan and Australia, was established to counter the increased regional economic and military influence of China — India’s rival, with whom relations have been tense since the 2020 deadly clashes on their 3,500-km Himalayan border.
Both Russia and the US are strategic partners for India and clearly siding with one of them could cost it the relationship with the other.
While Modi has not met Putin for the past two years, Unnikrishnan said a perception was emerging that there was a “drift” in India’s ties with Russia amid Western efforts to isolate Moscow on the world stage.
“Our relationship with the US has been growing rapidly, becoming closer and closer … It was giving rise to all kinds of speculation that distance from Russia is growing. I think the PM felt that now it’s time to remove such a perception,” he told Arab News.
“India has multiple partners, and it will not have a relationship based on dictation by any third party. It will maintain relationships depending on the national interest.”
Romanian court eases travel restrictions on influencer Andrew Tate
“Andrew and Tristan are still determined to clear their name and reputation,” the brothers’ lead defense lawyer Eugen Vidineac said
BUCHAREST: A Romanian court ruled on Friday that Internet personality Andrew Tate can travel within the European Union without restrictions while he awaits trial on human trafficking charges, his lawyer said.
Tate was indicted in mid-2023 along with his brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, accusations they have denied.
In April this year, the Bucharest court ruled their trial can start, a decision Tate has appealed.
Pending a ruling on his appeal, the four suspects had been banned from leaving Romania, but Friday’s court decision lifted the restriction for the European Union.
“My judges decided ... I’m allowed to leave Romania, so do we take the (Ferrari) SF90 to Italy, the (Maserati) MC20 to Cannes, the (Ferrari) 812 Competition to Paris, where do I go?” Tate said in a video posted on social media platform X.
The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers with dual US and British citizenship, are the highest-profile suspects facing trial for human trafficking in Romania and their case will be a test for Romania’s anti-organized crime prosecuting unit DIICOT.
The brothers were held in police custody during the criminal investigation from late December 2022 until April 2023 to prevent them from fleeing the country or tampering with evidence.
They were then placed under house arrest until August, when courts put them under judicial control, a lighter preventative measure.
“Andrew and Tristan are still determined to clear their name and reputation; however, they are grateful to the courts for placing this trust in them,” the brothers’ lead defense lawyer Eugen Vidineac said in a statement.
Romanian prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
They said the victims were then taken to properties outside the capital Bucharest, and through physical violence and mental intimidation were sexually exploited by being forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gain.
Tate, a self-described misogynist, has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
Spanish town acting as ‘rear guard’ for charity boats rescuing migrants
- L’Aurora’s coordinator, Vicent Alexander, said his operation represented the “rear guard” of charity boats’ missions
- The “Sea-Eye 4” vessel, which has “Leave no one to die” emblazoned on its hull, was resupplied with food, clothes and petrol before departing
BURRIANA, Spain: A short drive north of Spain’s coastal city of Valencia, the port of Burriana has become a safe haven for charity boats from around Europe that rescue migrants from the Mediterranean Sea.
Since 2021, local nongovernmental organization L’Aurora Support Group assists charity boats that dock for days or weeks in the town of 30,000 people for maintenance work, food and equipment re-supplies and crew changes between missions.
In Burriana, crews also receive emotional support from a friendly community after their involvement in the nerve-wrecking rescues of people who cram into dinghies from northern Africa to reach European shores.
Around 48,000 irregular border crossings were detected on the Mediterranean in the period from January to May, according to the latest data available by EU border agency Frontex.
L’Aurora’s coordinator, Vicent Alexander, said his operation represented the “rear guard” of charity boats’ missions.
“It is where all these boats are prepared, where training is done and where future plans are being developed to improve their work,” he told Reuters this week as his team attended to boats from Spain’s Open Arms and Germany’s Sea-Eye NGOs.
Balba Guardiola, a 68-year-old retiree who is among L’Aurora’s more than 100 volunteers, said her experience has been inspiring.
“I never thought that there were people so nice and so supportive as to leave the places where they live, places in comfortable developed Europe, to come to help these people who have nothing in the world but their lives,” she said.
The “Sea-Eye 4” vessel, which has “Leave no one to die” emblazoned on its hull, was resupplied with food, clothes and petrol before departing.
“We would like a lot more Burrianas to enable us to go back and forth into the Mediterranean as much as possible, and shorten the time we have between missions,” said its head of mission, Julie Schweickert.
Ukraine says Orban visited Moscow ‘without agreement’ from Kyiv
- “The decision to make this trip was made by the Hungarian side without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine,” Kyiv’s foreign ministry said
- “For our country, the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable“
KYIV: Ukraine on Friday criticized a visit by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war.
European Union leaders slammed the trip taking place less than a week after Hungary took over the EU presidency, which gives it sway over the bloc’s agenda and priorities for the next six months, and following a surprise visit to Kyiv by Orban.
“The decision to make this trip was made by the Hungarian side without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine,” Kyiv’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“For our country, the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable and we call on all states to strictly adhere to it,” it added.
On Tuesday, Orban — widely seen as the most pro-Moscow leader in the EU — visited Kyiv where he pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a quick ceasefire.
His suggestion was rejected by Ukraine, which says a pause in fighting would only give Russia time to regroup for a fresh assault.
Zelensky instead urged Orban to back Kyiv’s steps to work for peace in conjunction with international partners.
The foreign ministry reiterated that position on Friday.
“Ukraine remains constructively inclined to further work on the development of bilateral cooperation and European integration following the visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister to Kyiv,” it said.
Saudi crown prince, world leaders react to Labour’s sweeping victory in UK election
- Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated PM Keir Starmer
LONDON: Keir Starmer has been appointed as Britain’s prime minister after his center-left Labour Party won a huge majority in Thursday’s parliamentary election, defeating Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives and ending their 14 years of often tumultuous rule.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Starmer on his appointment as prime minister on Friday, Saudi Press Agency reported.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed wrote on X: “I extend my congratulations to Keir Starmer on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and I look forward to working together to further strengthen the long-standing partnership between our countries.”
Below are other world leaders’ reactions:
GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF SCHOLZ IN STATEMENT:
“I am delighted about the election victory of the leader of our sister party in the UK. I know Keir Starmer personally, we have often met and talked. He will be a very good, very successful prime minister... I also have the impression that we won’t have much trouble developing relations between Europe and the UK and between Germany and the UK.”
ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIORGIA MELONI ON X:
“My congratulations to Keir Starmer on his election success. Relations between Italy and the United Kingdom are excellent and I’m sure we’ll continue to cultivate a relationship of strong and reliable cooperation between our great nations...
“I thank my friend Rishi Sunak for these years of intense cooperation and sincere friendship...”
NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL JENS STOLTENBERG TO REPORTERS:
“I will congratulate Keir Starmer on his election. I look forward to welcoming him and meeting him at the NATO summit in Washington next week. I have met Keir Starmer here at the NATO headquarters and I know that he is a strong supporter of NATO, of the transatlantic alliance and also committed to ensuring that United Kingdom continues to be a strong and very committed NATO ally.”
INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI ON X:
“Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to @Keir_Starmer on the remarkable victory in the general elections. I look forward to our positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all areas, fostering mutual growth and prosperity.”
“Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office.”
IRISH PRIME MINISTER SIMON HARRIS AT PRESS CONFERENCE:
“The relationship between an Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) and a British prime minister is vital... It is time for a great reset. This morning from Dublin, I want to send a message to London that I will match Keir Starmer’s commitment and energy to our peace process and to our future potential in so many areas.”
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY ON X:
“Congratulations to @Keir_Starmer and @UKLabour on their convincing election victory. Ukraine and the United Kingdom have been and will continue to be reliable allies through thick and thin. We will continue to defend and advance our common values of life, freedom, and a rules-based international order...
“I am grateful to my good friend @RishiSunak for the UK government’s steadfast support under his leadership. Challenger tanks, Storm Shadow missiles, F-16 training for our pilots, and the first bilateral security cooperation agreement are just a few of our shared achievements that Ukraine will never forget.”
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON ON X:
“Congratulations Sir @Keir_Starmer on your victory. Pleased with our first discussion. We will continue the work begun with the UK for our bilateral cooperation, for peace and security in Europe, for the climate and for AI.”
AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE TO REPORTERS:
“We have a strong relationship between our two countries, but in Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner and so many others who I am very familiar with in the British Labour Party, I look forward very much to working with them. They have very similar views to us on a range of issues. I’m sure we’ll work closely on AUKUS, where we worked very closely as well with the former government.”
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU ON X:
“Congratulations, @Keir_Starmer, on a historic UK election victory. Lots of work ahead to build a more progressive, fair future for people on both sides of the Atlantic. Let’s get to it, my friend.”
* With Reuters
