KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — After six nights in prison, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he was well in a Facebook post today.
Today is Najib’s seventh day in Kajang prison. He is the first former prime minister in Malaysia to be imprisoned.
In a brief post in Malay on his Facebook page this afternoon, Najib wrote that his daughter Nooryana Najwa — whom he called “Gina” — had told him that many were asking how he was doing.
“For now, I am healthy, well, calm. Alhamdulillah,” he wrote, using the Arabic term for “Praise be to Allah”.
“I have the opportunity to meet my lawyer and family according to the permitted time,” he said, adding that he asked about the latest developments while also discussing about court matters.
Najib did not identify the lawyers or family members he was able to meet while in prison.
He added that he also spent a lot of his time writing down his views and giving them to either his lawyer or family to be shared with the public, and said there might be some delay in having his views shared out but noted that this was all he could do.
Najib has been in prison since the Federal Court’s August 23 ruling, where a panel of five judges unanimously decided to uphold his conviction, RM210 million fine and 12-year prison sentence for embezzling RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Apart from the SRC case, Najib is also facing four other criminal trials, including two that have yet to start.
Since his imprisonment on August 23, Najib has been brought out from prison twice to attend two of his ongoing criminal trials. He was sighted wearing suit and tie on those two occasions.
Najib was brought out on August 25 for his trial involving 25 charges over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds, with those spotted in the Kuala Lumpur court complex on that day being his daughter Nooryana, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and his son Norashman.
On that day, he managed to wave to a small group of about 15 supporters out of a car window in the prison convoy transporting him back to prison.
Najib was also brought out on August 26 to attend his power abuse trial involving his alleged instructions to make changes to the auditor-general’s audit report on 1MDB. On that day, Rosmah, Norashman, and Najib’s son Datuk Mohd Nizar Najib were also seen in court.
The next time when Najib is scheduled to be brought out to attend his criminal trial will be four days from now or on September 2, when the trial over the alleged tampering of the 1MDB audit report resumes.
