42 h. ago Malaysia’s Umno chief denies he ‘sidelined’ Najib to secure his own legal freedom

The president of Malaysia’s Umno has denied abandoning disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak to save himself, as fissures emerge in the former ruling party over the mixed legal fortunes of two of its top leaders. Umno grass-roots members have urged President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to quit Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government in protest after the High Court blocked Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest last month. It also handed the one-time party figurehead a...

Politics

8 d. ago Malaysia’s Umno seeks Najib’s pardon amid 1MDB scandal, while staying in PM Anwar’s coalition

The United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which for decades dominated Malaysian politics and remains a key member of the ruling coalition, is set to renew a push for the release of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak next week, even as it steps back from threats to quit the government. Resolutions pushing for a full pardon and demanding justice for Najib were the “hottest topic” submitted by the party’s 191 divisions ahead of its annual assembly, Secretary General Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki...

Events

2 w. ago Power vacuum in Caracas? Venezuelans wonder who’s in charge after Maduro capture

Venezuelans on Saturday scrambled to understand who was in charge of their country after the US military captured President Nicolas Maduro, ousting the strongman who had outlasted a botched coup attempt, several army mutinies, mass protests and economic sanctions in the vast nation of 29 million. “What will happen tomorrow?” asked Juan Pablo Petrone, a resident of Venezuela’s capital of Caracas. As fear gripped the city, streets quickly emptied save for long lines snaking from supermarkets and...

Politics

2 w. ago Najib’s new 1MDB verdict deepens Umno rifts, testing Malaysia’s unity government

The fresh prison sentence handed to disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has sharpened tensions inside Umno, with analysts warning the legal blow to the party’s former figurehead could fuel calls for a withdrawal from the coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. On Friday, a Malaysian court sentenced Najib, 72, to a further 15 years in prison after finding him guilty on all 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering linked to the siphoning of 2.3 billion ringgit...

Politics

3 w. ago Malaysia’s Najib found guilty on abuse of power charge in final 1MDB case

Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty on the first count of abuse of power in the final criminal case linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, following a seven-year trial. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah is still reading the remaining verdicts. Prosecutors say that Najib abused his position to siphon 2.3 billion ringgit (US$568 million) from the scandal-hit state fund. In total, the 72-year-old faces four charges of abusing...

Events

3 w. ago Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: Najib found guilty on all 4 abuse of power charges

Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty on all four counts of abuse of power in the final criminal case linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, following a seven-year trial. In convicting Najib of the four charges, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the former leader had “abused the power and trust vested in him”. Rejecting Najib’s defence that he was misled or acted collectively, Sequerah ruled that the evidence showed he...

Events

3 w. ago Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: Najib found guilty of abuse of power, money laundering

Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty on all charges in the final criminal case linked to the multibillion-dollar state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), bringing to a close a seven-year trial over one of the country’s biggest corruption scandals. The High Court found Najib guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering, ruling that he had abused the power and trust vested in him while at the helm of the government. Justice Collin...

Events

3 w. ago Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: Najib sentenced to 15 years in jail for abuse of power, money laundering

A Malaysian court on Friday sentenced jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to 15 years in prison after convicting him on all 25 charges linked to the plundering of billions of dollars from scandal-tainted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The High Court found Najib guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering, after taking account of his “direct role” in the siphoning of 2.3 billion ringgit (US$568 million) from the troubled sovereign wealth...

Events

3 w. ago With 1MDB verdict due, will Malaysia’s Najib have to ‘prepare for the worst’?

Malaysia’s High Court is poised on Friday to deliver its verdict in the final criminal trial of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, bringing to a close one of Southeast Asia’s most far-reaching corruption sagas. The case centres on allegations that the disgraced 72-year-old misappropriated 2.3 billion ringgit (US$490 million) from the scandal-ridden Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib is currently in Kajang Prison, over halfway through a sentence...

Politics

3 w. ago Najib’s children lament Malaysian court ruling – ‘we thought he was coming home’

The children of ex-Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak have been yearning for their father to leave prison and the family to spend the New Year together. But their hopes were dashed this week after a court ruled against Najib’s application to return home under house arrest. In a five-minute video posted online shortly after the decision on Monday, Najib’s eldest son, Mohd Nizar Najib, said the family had gone to court prepared for both outcomes, but had quietly believed the long fight – based...

Society

3 w. ago Why Malaysian court ruling against Najib is dividing Anwar’s coalition

A court’s decision to keep former Malaysian leader Najib Razak behind bars has reopened fault lines between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition and Umno, the country’s once-dominant ruling party. The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday rejected Najib’s application to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, ruling that a purported addendum to a royal clemency order “had no legal effect because it was never deliberated by the Pardons Board”. The decision meant the...

Events

3 w. ago Malaysian court blocks Najib’s bid for house arrest ahead of key 1MDB verdict

A Malaysian court on Monday dismissed former prime minister Najib Razak’s bid to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, dealing a setback to his attempt to secure early release from jail. Najib, 72, is serving a reduced six-year sentence after receiving partial royal clemency earlier this year in the SRC International case, a former subsidiary linked to the scandal-ridden Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, in which he was convicted of abuse of power, criminal breach of...

Events