KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took a bold stand today and demanded a "fair trial” for his predecessor, disgraced former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In his policy speech at the Umno general assembly this morning, Zahid, who is now deputy to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, maintained that Najib remains a victim of political persecution and selective prosecution.

"When the Bossku phenomenon hit the country, a small group of us continued to raise voices arguing against Bossku.

"His court issues were repeated, even though we knew it was political and selective prosecution. Now he is alone there,” Zahid said, referring to Najib’s current location in Kajang Prison.

"We demand that he will be given justice in court. We demand that a fair trial be given to Najib,” he said to some 3,000 delegates at the World Trade Centre here.

He added that Najib had been one of the main campaigners that boosted Umno’s performance in several state elections after the party and Barisan Nasional suffered its historic defeat in the 2018 general election.

Najib was sent to Kajang Prison on August 23 last year after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for embezzling RM42 million from state-owned investment firm SRC International Sdn Bhd and sentenced him to 12 years behind bars and a RM210 million fine.

Prior to that, he had been free to roam the country pending his final appeal and actively stumped for Umno and the BN, which saw them reclaim Johor and Melaka in the state elections of 2022 and 2021 respectively.

Najib’s daughter Nooryana Najwa, who turned heads at the Umno general assembly today, told reporters that her father’s absence in the 15th general election last November had cut deep and was sorely felt by the party grassroots.

"During this GE15, even at the grassroots level, it is not as lively as before. Datuk Najib now wants only one thing, to bring back the spirit in Umno and the people.

"He knows that he is innocent, and his fighting spirit is still strong even now in prison,” she claimed.

However, Najib still has several corruption charges pending in court that are related to the multi-million dollar 1MDB financial scandal.

He has also not given up on his bid to get out of jail and has filed an international complaint over his SRC conviction with the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on top of a review of the Federal Court decision that is scheduled to be heard on January 19.