On Nov 27, former prime minister Najib Razak won a reprieve in his ongoing legal battles linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court granted Najib a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in connection with six criminal breach of trust charges filed in 2018 involving RM6.6 billion (S$2 billion) in payments made from government funds to Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company.
The court cited the long delay and the prosecution's failure to hand over key documents in its judgment.
Although the prosecution retains the option to recharge, the court's decision counts as yet another legal victory for Najib. In 2023, he was acquitted of abusing his power by tampering with an audit report on 1MDB due to the prosecution's failure to meet deadlines to continue its appeal.
The Nov 27 ruling and other recent developments related to the disgraced former prime minister have reinforced the public perception that he is being handled with kid gloves by the Anwar administration.
The contrast is especially stark when compared with the first Pakatan Harapan (PH) government under then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Soon after it took power in 2018 after Najib's election defeat, it promptly filed multiple graft charges against him.
Since his fall from grace, Najib has been convicted of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust, fined, and sentenced to a 12-year jail term. (This was halved early in 2024 by the then Malaysian King, Sultan Abdullah of Pahang, as chair of the Pardons Board.)
Najib's legal battles are not over: he is standing trial for two cases in December and April. Yet, the man Malaysia's Court of Appeal once described as "a national embarrassment" remains a key player, skilfully leveraging the unresolved tensions within the political system.
POTENTIAL RELEASE AND POLITICAL COMEBACK
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