Disgraced former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak entered Kuala Lumpur’s Jalan Duta Court Complex this morning and was promptly hit with four charges pertaining to misappropriated funds overseen during his tenure in office.
He was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power for graft, the result of a nearly two-month long investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Attorney General Tommy Thomas invoked Section 52 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, pertaining to criminal breach of trust. Najib was charged with the misappropriation of funds in three separate transactions, involving RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million via SRC International Sdn Bhd.
At the time, he was also the country’s finance minister, prime minister and an adviser to the company. Yes, all at once.
Najib was also charged under Section 23 of the MACC 2009 Act, for using his position to allegedly engineer a payout to himself to the tune of RM42 million (US$10.6 million).
Prosecutors allege that he had been part of, or was involved in, making the decision to provide government guarantees for a RM4 billion loan (US$1 billion) from Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen (KWAP) to SRC.
Under these charges, Najib faces anywhere from two to 20 years in prison, a fine not less than five times the bribe he is found guilty of, and a caning. We’re not holding our breath for a caning.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas requested for the proceedings to be conducted in English.
Najib has yet to enter a plea, as presiding judge Datuk Zainal Abidin Kamarudin then transferred the case to the High Court.
Last night, and this morning, Najib’s support base showed no signs of waning, with many declaring that their fallen leader be freed, but also calling for #justice. Unfortunately, the two may prove to be mutually exclusive.
https://twitter.com/farahwazer/status/1014135979941040128
Others who had been persecuted by the previous regime, such as artist and activist Fahmi Reza, were also present to see the man behind their incarceration finally face the music.
Leading up to his arrest, Najib’s PR machine went into overdrive, with an over two-minute long video being posted to his personal Facebook page. According to the clip, he did his best, and God, above all else, will be the final judge.
Many netizens were having little of this sudden turn to a man of the people and/or sanctity and had this to say about it:
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