DATUK Seri Najib Razak’s maiden court appearance as a convict for his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore graft trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday (Aug 25) has caught the eyes of many down-to-earth spectators – not so much for the gravity of charges levelled against him but for his elegance.
This came barely 48 hours after the Federal Court on Tuesday (Aug 23) upheld the Pekan MP’s High Court conviction of 12-year jail sentence and RM210 mil fine in the RM42 mil embezzlement of funds belonging to SRC International Bhd. He was ordered to begin his jail sentence with immediate effect at the Kajang Prison.
While many were looking forward to him donning a possibly hand-me-down orange or purple prison attire (or whichever colour deemed fit), the ex-premier who is affably known by his Bossku moniker turned up “impeccably dressed in his usual suit and tie ensemble – this time a blue and red pairing – calm and collected”, according to theedgemarkets.com.
“Wearing a dark blue suit, red tie and face mask, Najib sat impassively in the dock without handcuffs as the hearing began,” reported global news agency Aljazeera.
“He was earlier brought into the court complex in a tinted police vehicle under heavy security to avoid a crowd of media waiting to catch a glimpse of him.”
On the issue of lock-up uniform, it is worthwhile to revisit the justification by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Tan Sri Azam Baki back on September 22, 2018 when he clarified that investigating officers have the discretion to decide whether arrested individuals should be made to wear the orange uniform.
“Many people have raised this question. So I would like to state that there are many who wore it (the orange uniform) and many who did not,” Azam who was the then MACC deputy commissioner of operations was cited by Malaysiakini as saying during a MACC talkshow on the Bernama radio station.
“It is up to an investigator’s discretion on whether there is need (for a suspect) to wear certain clothes.”
Azam’s clarification came after Najib first appeared in court on July 4, 2018 to three charges of criminal breach of trust and one for abuse of power relating to funds involving SRC International which was a former 1MDB subsidiary.
On both occasions, he was dressed in a suit and tie instead of the orange MACC uniform.
On what criteria investigating officers use to decide what arrested individuals wear, Azam explained that several aspects are taken into consideration, including whether the individual has the potential of escaping and blending into a crowd.
“In ordinary circumstances, if the person is deemed to have potential risk, they will be made to wear the orange uniform … so it on a case-by-case basis,” he noted. “I cannot say who should be made to wear the uniform and who should not. There are many other politicians who were not made to wear it and not handcuffed.”
In a related development, senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who is representing Najib in the 1MDB-Tanore corruption trial over the misappropriation of RM2.3 bil of 1MDB funds (alongside and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount) was visibly upset after being quizzed by the media over Najib’s well-being as a prison inmate.
“I can’t say anything … I’m not going to say anything because you twist and turn our words, even in the court,” the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news portal quoted him as saying. “Go and find out yourself.”
Nevertheless, his daughter, Nooryana Najwa Najib, wrote on Instagram late on Wednesday that a team of lawyers met her father earlier in the day and that his “fighting spirit is still strong”.
She said Najib has been given his basic needs, and that he was adapting to his prison life.
The hearing before judge Datuk Colin Lawrence Sequerah also allowed Najib to reunite with his family for the first time since his imprisonment started, according to his special officer Ahmad Lutfi Azhar who spoke to the media outside the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex. – Aug 26, 2022
Main pic credit: The Star
