KUALA LUMPUR – The public risk finding themselves in hot water if they were to even utter former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s name, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today in a jab at his former protege-turned-political foe.
The nonagenarian said Malaysians need to “forget” the fact that Najib had been put on trial and found guilty of stealing public money and sentenced to 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine.
Najib was convicted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on charges of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering in connection to SRC International, a former unit of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). He also faces a separate corruption trial involving 1MDB.
Najib has denied all wrongdoing and is appealing his conviction.
“Don’t mention (his name). If you do, more people will like him. Popular people in a democratic country will become leaders, even a prime minister,” Dr Mahathir said in a Facebook post.
“A prime minister can steal billions of ringgit, but don’t mention his name. He will become popular, become the prime minister and steal more money.
“Don’t mention his name in court. Only then justice will prevail. He has been sentenced but doesn’t need to carry it out... If you don’t mention the name of those guilty, whose name should you say then? Mention anybody’s name, it’s okay. This is justice in Malaysia.”
Dr Mahathir, who returned to active politics and led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to a historic win in the 2018 national polls, also took a dig at the nation’s justice system, alleging that it would be better to flee the country or end up in prison for questioning the courts.
“That is justice,” he said.
Yesterday, police issued a statement clarifying that Dr Mahathir was not under any investigations and that the last time he was called in for questioning was on March 23 as part of their probe into allegations raised by former attorney-general Tommy Thomas in his memoir.
Mahathir had in an earlier blog post on Monday asked why he would be called in for questioning when convicted individuals like Najib are allowed to walk freely.
Dr Mahathir’s Facebook administrator later clarified that he was only being “cynical” in his post and that it was misunderstood by various quarters. – The Vibes, April 6, 2022
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