Selangor palace suspends state titles for Najib, Rosmah

KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor have been stripped of state titles awarded by the Sultan of Selangor pending the completion of their corruption cases in court.

The revocation of their awards is effective May 6, Selangor Secretary Datuk Mohd Amin Ahmad Ahya said in a statement today.

The Selangor awards conferred the “Dato’ Seri” title to Najib and “Datin Paduka Seri” to Rosmah.

“He has been indicted in court on several charges involving corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

“With this, his membership as a holder of the Darjah Kebesaran SPMS and DPMS is suspended effective May 6, 2019 until his trial and appeal (if any) are exhausted in court,” Amin said.

The SPMS refers to the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor First Class conferred on Najib in 2004, while the DPMS refers to the Darjah Kebesaran Dato’ Paduka Mahkota Selangor Second Class conferred on the Pekan MP earlier in 1992.

Rosmah was also bestowed with the SPMS First Class that carries the title “Datin Paduka Seri” in 2005.

Amin said the suspensions are in line with the state Ruler’s powers under the Law of the Constitution of Selangor 1959.

Najib is currently on trial for seven counts of criminal breach of trust, power abuse and laundering RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He faces over 40 charges in total and his main 1MDB trial is scheduled to start only on August 17.

Rosmah has also been indicted on multiple counts of bribery, money laundering and dodging taxes. Her trials have yet to start.

Prior to Selangor, the Negri Sembilan palace revoked its award of Darjah Seri Utama Negri Sembilan (SPNS) conferred on Najib while Rosmah was stripped of her Darjah Seri Paduka Tuanku Ja’afar Yang Amat Terpuji from her home state in October last year.

However, both Najib and Rosmah can still be called Datuk Seri and Datin Seri respectively as they still hold awards from Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak.