EX-PM of Malaysia Najib goes to jail after losing appeal in graft case

By Our Special Correspondent

Malaysia's top court ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to begin a 12-year prison sentence on Tuesday after upholding a guilty conviction on charges related to a multi-billion dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Knocking back Najib's final appeal, the country's top court also denied his request for a stay of sentence.

Najib, 69, was found guilty by a lower court in July 2020 of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. He had been out on bail and pending appeals.

Najib, wearing a dark suit and tie, sat in the dock as the verdict was read out. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, who is also facing corruption charges, and three children were seated behind him.

Security officials then gathered around the bespectacled former premier and he was later seen leaving court in a black car with police escort.

A court official and sources close to Najib said he was taken to Kajang Prison, about 40 km away from capital Kuala Lumpur.

"This is unprecedented. Najib will be remembered for his many firsts, the first prime minister to lose a general election, the first to be convicted," said Adib Zalkapli, Director at political risk consultancy Bower Group Asia.

The British-educated son of Malay nobility held the premiership from 2009 to 2018, when public anger over the graft scandal brought election defeat, and dozens of corruption charges were lodged in following months.