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.
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Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib apologizes for mishandling of 1MDB scandal
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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
Greenland should hold talks with the US without Denmark, opposition leader says
COPENHAGEN: Greenland should hold direct talks with the US government without Denmark, a Greenlandic opposition leader told Reuters, as the Arctic island weighs how to respond to President Donald Trump’s renewed push to bring it under US control.
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
Trump has recently stepped up threats to take over Greenland, reviving an idea he first floated in 2019 during his first term in office.
Greenland is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the US ballistic missile defense system. Its rich mineral resources also fit Washington’s goal of reducing dependence on China.
The island is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. It has its own parliament and government, but Copenhagen retains authority over foreign affairs and defense.
“We encourage our current (Greenlandic) government actually to have a dialogue with the US government without Denmark,” said Pele Broberg, the leader of Naleraq, the largest opposition party and the most prominent political voice for Greenland’s independence.
“Because Denmark is antagonizing both Greenland and the US with their mediation.”
Naleraq, which strongly advocates a rapid move to full independence, doubled its seats to eight in last year’s election, winning 25 percent of the vote in the nation of just 57,000.
Although excluded from the governing coalition, the party has said it wants a defense agreement with Washington and could pursue a “free association” arrangement — under which Greenland would receive US support and protection in exchange for military rights, without becoming a US territory.
All Greenlandic parties want independence but differ on how, and when, to achieve it.
GOVERNMENT SAYS DIRECT TALKS NOT POSSIBLE
Greenlandic Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt said Greenland could not conduct direct talks with the US without Denmark because it is not legally allowed to do so.
“We must respect the law, and we have rules for how to resolve issues in the Kingdom,” she told Sermitsiaq daily late on Wednesday.
The Danish and Greenlandic governments did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Broberg’s remarks.
The comments come ahead of a planned meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week to address tensions between NATO allies.
Motzfeldt said it was important to set Greenland’s relationship with Washington on a steady course.
“My greatest hope is that the meeting will lead to a normalization of our relationship,” she told Sermitsiaq.
Rubio appears not to favor a military operation, according to France’s foreign minister. But others in the Trump administration say the option is on the table.
“We are going to make sure we defend America’s interests,” US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News in an interview aired late on Wednesday. “And I think the president is willing to go as far as he has to make sure he does that.”
(Reporting by Tom Little and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Jeppesen; writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Ros Russell)
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