KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 — Veteran newsman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said today he was perplexed as to why former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is still accorded special treatment by the authorities despite the latter’s conviction by the High Court last July.
Taking to Facebook, the former Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia supreme council member said he was baffled by the rationale and logic behind the police escorts provided to Najib when he campaigned for the Slim by-election last month.
“Many people are confused as to how Najib is still free even though he has been found guilty and convicted by the High Court on July 28.
“They are puzzled because commoners who admit to stealing Milo or bread because they have no money while their children starve at home are punished and sentenced in the blink of an eye.
“They are even more bemused when Najib went campaigning escorted by police outriders usually reserved for the prime minister,” he said in a posting.
In the same posting, Kadir said the RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd funds that entered Najib’s account could sustain a Haj subsidy for 3,250 people or 26,250 households with RM4,000 monthly income and below under the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional.
“Yet, what we hear during the trial is that Najib had spent it extravagantly all over the world with his wife’s children and friends,” he said.
Najib is the first former prime minister in Malaysian history to be convicted of criminal charges in a court of law.
On July 28, the High Court pronounced him guilty of committing three counts of criminal breach of trust over a total RM42 million of SRC International funds while entrusted with its control as the then prime minister and finance minister, and a separate charge of abusing the same positions for self-gratification of the same sum.
For the remaining three charges, he is accused of laundering RM42 million.
He was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million, and faces another five years behind bars if he defaults.
However, the court has given him a reprieve in serving his sentence pending his appeal.
