From world of luxury to rubbing shoulders with criminals in jail

KUALA LUMPUR • Former Malay-sian prime minister Najib Razak's new prison lodgings may be less than an hour's drive from his mansion in Kuala Lumpur's affluent Bukit Tunku neighbourhood, but it is a world away from the luxury he is used to.

On Tuesday, Najib lost his final appeal against a 12-year jail sentence for corruption, and was taken under heavy security to the country's largest jailhouse in Kajang - a sprawling complex south-east of the capital that holds up to 5,000 prisoners and includes a women's facility.

The son of Malaysia's second prime minister, Najib held the premiership from 2009 till 2018, when public anger over the multibillion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad brought election defeat.

Having been golf buddies with former United States presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and other world leaders, the British-educated son of Malay nobility will now count murderers and drug traffickers among his fellow inmates in Kajang Prison.

One of them, Azilah Hadri, was a member of Najib's security detail before he was convicted of murder for the 2006 killing of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. Azilah is currently on death row, while a fellow policeman who was convicted along with him sought sanctuary in Australia, where he remains.

In a 2019 court filing seeking to set aside his conviction, Azilah accused Najib of ordering the murder, a claim the former premier denied. The Federal Court rejected Azilah's application in 2020.

The Malaysian Prisons Department did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on what conditions Najib will face in jail.

On Facebook, it denied as fake news a post by a user saying that the prison provided special privileges such as television and air-conditioning for "VIP inmates".

Otherwise, rights groups say Malaysian jails suffer from overcrowding, poor hygiene and a lack of medical facilities, and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and scabies are common.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who spent a total of eight years incarcerated at another Malaysian prison, has said he experienced inhumane and degrading conditions, including being served rotten fish "all the time", according to media reports.

However, Najib's former deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi told Parliament in 2016 that Anwar obtained privileges based on medical advice, including a customised hospital bed, a desk, hot showers and a special diet.

Anwar was also given access to the prison library, received regular visitors, and was allowed to leave for hospital treatments and to attend trial, according to Zahid.

Anwar was jailed twice on corruption and sodomy charges, which he maintains were politically motivated. He was pardoned by the Malaysian King and released days after Najib's election defeat in 2018.

The only times Najib is likely to leave prison are when he is escorted to court to attend hearings in four other cases related to corruption at 1MDB and other government agencies.

REUTERS