[UPDATED] Don’t ever compare my prison experience with Najib’s: Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has rebuffed comparisons with Datuk Seri Najib Razak regarding  “VVIP” treatment in prison.

He said Najib’s supporters are arguing that the former prime minister should be allowed medical treatment at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital (CRH) because Anwar had also been treated there while in prison.

Anwar, however, pointed out the difference between both of them.

The Pakatan Harapan chairman said he had served prison for well over a decade before being allowed access to CRH, and that his experience was incomparable to Najib’s.

“I was given that facility at the rehab centre (in Cheras) after serving more than 10 years in solitary confinement lockup in prison,” Anwar said during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) in Bangkok.

“Number two, I was only sent to the rehab centre after major shoulder surgery,” the PKR president added. His press conference was posted on Facebook Live.

Anwar was asked for his thoughts on Najib’s imprisonment, and whether he believed the former prime minister should be granted a pardon for his crimes.

“If he (Najib) wants to be treated in the same way, he must first serve 10 years, then he can be brought to the rehab centre if there is a surgery.

“And if he is really sick and the doctors ascertained he is unwell, I would not want to make it an issue.

“I’m responding because his people tend to ask ‘Why can’t Najib be sent to the rehab centre with its facilities when Anwar was given the same treatment?’. What utter rubbish!”

Anwar added that while his physical ailments had been explained to the public during his imprisonment, it was not the case for Najib.

Najib is receiving physiotherapy at CRH, according to Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Before that after he began serving his sentence for graft on August 23, he was said to have had blood pressure issues.

Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today said only the court can be privy to the details of Najib’s ailments.

Anwar has had two stints in prison, from 1999 to 2004 for corruption and sodomy after he was sacked by then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and again for a second siding charge from 2015 to 2018, when he received a royal pardon. 

He said today that while in prison for the second time under Najib’s administration, he had to sleep on a cement floor which aggravated his back problems, and only after that was he given a bed upon doctors’ advice.

On whether he felt “sorry” for Najib, Anwar said that it was “different on a personal level” as he had known Najib for decades while in Umno.

“When I was Umno youth chief, he was the deputy. Of course, he represented the upper class and aristocrats, and I come from the village and you can understand my predicament,” Anwar said.

“But we were friends and family and I certainly wouldn't want him to endure suffering beyond his penalty.

“I must differentiate the personal concerns and you must accept the rule of law and the punishment.”

Anwar also rubbished claims that Najib’s case was politically motivated as his crime of misappropriating SRC International Sdn Bhd funds was known by the international community.

“It’s a clear-cut case (of corruption),” Anwar said.

“I think if we view it positively, which is unfortunate for Najib, it is a lesson for all political leaders that if you are given power, don’t squander public funds.” – The Vibes, September 22, 2022