Ousted PM Najib barred from leaving Malaysia
kuala lumpur — Police on Saturday raided a deluxe Kuala Lumpur apartment block at which relatives of ousted prime minister Najib Razak had been staying as they searched for sensitive documents the new government fears may be taken out of the country, two senior police officers said.
The swoop came as Malaysia’s new Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said he had stopped his predecessor from leaving the country because of suspected wrongdoing in connection with a scandal at state fund 1MDB.
Police said they were acting after a complaint that a government vehicle had delivered dozens of boxes made to carry designer handbags and other items to the apartment for Najib’s wife.
I have been informed that the Malaysian Immigration Department will not allow my family and me to go overseas. I respect the directive and will remain with my family in the country. Najib Razak, Ousted premier
kuala lumpur — Malaysian authorities barred ousted prime minister Najib Razak and his wife from leaving the country on Saturday, amid reports that the government was reopening investigations into a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at a state fund he founded.
The order by immigration authorities came minutes after Najib announced in a Facebook post that he and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were taking a week-long holiday overseas to rest after his thumping defeat in Wednesday’s general election.
“The Malaysian Immigration Department would like to confirm that Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor have just been blacklisted from leaving the country,” the agency said on its official Facebook page. It gave no reason.
Moments later again, Najib said in a Twitter message that he would respect the decision and would remain in the country.
Questions about Najib’s whereabouts were answered when he appeared at a meeting of his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to announce that he was stepping down as the party’s president and as chairman of the Barisan Nasional, the alliance dominated by UMNO that has ruled Malaysia for six decades. “We all feel sad about what happened but as a party that upholds democratic principles, we accept the people’s decision,” he said, adding that his former deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would take over as head of UMNO.
Two sources told Reuters on Friday that new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad planned to reopen investigations into a graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that has plagued Najib since 2015.
Mahathir would appoint a finance ministry adviser to “restart the 1MDB probe and bring back the money”, said one source, who worked closely with his campaign team. The second source, a lawmaker, said the announcement could be made on Saturday when Mahathir names members of his new cabinet. Earlier, dozens of people — mostly journalists - gathered at an airport near Kuala Lumpur from where Najib and his wife were reported to be leaving for the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and tried to look into cars entering the complex. There was no sign that Najib or Rosmah had come to the airport. Reports circulated on social media said the couple were named on the flight manifest of a private jet scheduled to depart for Jakarta at 10am. —