Malaysia charges ex-PM with breach of trust
July 4, 2018
Malaysian prosecutors raised corruption charges against former head of government Najib Razak on Wednesday, claiming the politician accepted millions of dollars in bribes.
Najib is the first ex-prime minister to be charged in court in Malaysian history.
Read more: Malaysia arrests ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak over 1MDB corruption
Latest developments:
- Prosecutors accused Najib of taking $10.4 million (€8.91 million) in bribes.
- The alleged bribe came from an energy company that had been set up as a a subsidiary of 1MDB.
- Najib faces three accounts of breach of trust and one of abusing power, each of them punishable by a prison term of up to 20 years.
- The former prime minister pleaded not guilty to all charges.
- A judge set bail to $250,000 for the politician's release.
A spokesman for Najib had rejected the charges as "politically motivated."
Najib's daughter-in-law Nur Sharmila Shaheen said the family was praying for the politician to get a fair trial. "It's a test from Allah," she told the AFP news agency. In a pre-recorded video posted after the Tuesday arrest, Najib said he was "not perfect, but believe me that the accusations against me and my family are not all true."
Read more: People were 'disgusted with government's corruption' in Malaysia
What is the case about? Officials believe the alleged bribe was linked with the so-called 1MBD scandal, that saw various officials reportedly siphon out billions of dollars of public money during Najib's 2009-2018 rule. With Najib's government shaken by the massive corruption scandal, the coalition around him lost the May elections to Najib's former mentor Mahathir Mohamad.
How did it get to this? Najib was voted out of office less than two months ago. In mid-May, Malaysian police raided properties linked to him and seized cash, jewelry, watches and other expensive items valued at $273.3 million. The 64-year-old politician has denied any wrongdoing.
In June, current Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he believed Najib was fully responsible for the 1MDB scandal, and that the prosecutors had "an almost perfect case" against him. Both Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor have been questioned by authorities and banned from leaving the country. Najib was eventually arrested at his Kuala Lumpur home on Tuesday.
dj/aw (AFP, Reuters, dpa)