KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 7 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the sessions court here today that former federal territories deputy minister Edmund Santhara Kumar should not have travelled to New Zealand when Malaysia was under a movement control order (MCO).
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) today reported that the former prime minister — who is a witness in a defamation suit Edmund filed against Batu MP P. Prabakaran — said it was “morally wrong” for Edmund to take a 55-day trip abroad when others in Malaysia could not cross its borders.
“During difficult times, one (a political leader) has to be with the rakyat.
“If they (people) are suffering, then you should suffer with them,” Najib was quoted as saying.
In his lawsuit, Santhara claim that during a press conference on March 17, 2021, Prabakaran made allegedly false statements about the former’s trip to New Zealand in 2020.
When Prabakaran’s lawyer, Dinesh Muthal, asked Najib if an MP could question incidents such as Santhara’s absence, the former PM said that it is not wrong as long it was done in good faith and without personal attacks.
During cross-examination, Santhara’s lawyer, N Krishnan, then reportedly put forth to Najib that Santhara’s trip to New Zealand was not unlawful as it was approved by the then prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Najib replied that the trip should not have been approved in the first place.
“When others are not even allowed to travel to other states, how can you justify going overseas for 55 days?” he said in the report.
The hearing before judge Zulqarnain Hassan is set to continue tomorrow.
In March 2021, Edmund stated that he left for his 55-day trip to New Zealand on December 23, 2020, in order to take a break and be with his family after not missing a day of work for a year, and partially because his wife was ill.
It was previously reported that Edmund’s family are permanent residents in the Oceanic country and his children were studying there.
Edmund’s parliamentary constituency at the time — Segamat — was also hit by floods during his absence.
To note, in 2014, Najib himself came under fire for playing golf in the US with the country’s then president, Barack Obama, while Malaysia went through floods that affected over 500,000 people.
Najib is currently serving his 12-year prison sentence after being convicted of misappropriating funds from a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International.
