KUALA LUMPUR: Jailed former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday issued a rare apology for his mishandling of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.
1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a sovereign wealth fund co-founded by Najib in 2009 while he was premier, has faced corruption probes in at least six countries over the alleged misappropriation of over $4.5 billion by high-level officials of the fund and their associates.
Malaysia’s top court in 2022 upheld a guilty verdict against Najib for corruption and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from former 1MDB unit SRC International, sentencing him to 12 years in prison. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s former king.
Najib, 71, has consistently denied wrongdoing and on Thursday expressed remorse about the 1MDB scandal in a letter read at a press conference by his son, Mohamad Nizar Mohd Najib.
“It pains me every day to know that the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as minister of finance and prime minister,” the former premier said, according to the letter.
“For that, I would like to apologize unreservedly to the Malaysian people.”
Najib said while he initiated investigations into 1MDB, he should have acted differently when questions about its dealings first arose, adding his concerns at the time were its finances and the diplomatic risks the scandal posed.
Malaysian anti-graft investigators have previously said their probes into 1MDB during Najib’s tenure had been blocked, with witnesses disappearing and death threats made against them.
‘DEEP SHOCK’
Najib’s statement comes just days after Malaysia, in its budget plans for 2025, said it would propose a new law that would allow house arrest as an alternative punishment for certain offenses.
Najib has been pushing to serve the remainder of his sentence at home and is seeking to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he says came with the pardon and recommended house arrest for him.
Najib said he was still “in deep shock” and deeply regretted the 1MDB scandal but maintained his innocence, citing a news report alleging that fugitive businessman Jho Low and two executives at Saudi oil firm Petrosaudi colluded to siphon SRC funds without the ex-premier’s knowledge in 2009 and 2010.
Low faces charges in the United States and Malaysia for his alleged central role in the scandal, while the two Petrosaudi executives were convicted by a Swiss court in August for embezzling 1MDB funds. The three men had denied wrongdoing.
“Being held legally responsible for things that I did not initiate or knowingly enable is unfair to me and I hope and pray that the judicial process will, in the end, prove my innocence,” Najib said.
Authorities have said Najib received more than $1 billion traceable to 1MDB, including a $681 million transfer in 2013. He has denied that.
Najib faces several other graft trials. A Malaysian court is set to determine on Oct. 30 whether to acquit him or ask him to enter his defense on money laundering and corruption charges in a 1MDB-related case.
Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib apologizes for mishandling of 1MDB scandal
https://arab.news/cftcd
Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib apologizes for mishandling of 1MDB scandal
- But former leader maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund
- Malaysia’s top court in 2022 upheld a guilty verdict against Najib for corruption and money laundering
Greta Thunberg released from custody after arrest at UK pro-Palestinian protest
- UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act
- City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March
LONDON: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.
UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.” The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
City of London Police said Thunberg had been bailed until March.
Police said earlier two other people had been arrested for throwing red paint at a building. A spokesperson said 22-year-old woman later attended the scene and was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organization.
Prisoners for Palestine, which supports some detained activists who have gone on hunger strike, said the building had been targeted because it was used by an insurance firm which they said provided services to the British arm of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.
The insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thunberg, 22, became prominent after staging weekly climate protests in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018.
Last year, she was cleared of a public order offense in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.
She was detained along with 478 people and expelled by Israel in October after joining an activist convoy of vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that attempted to reach Gaza with aid supplies. Israel has consistently denied genocide allegations.
