Legal procedure against Rosmah according to law — Mahathir

PUTRAJAYA: The legal procedure against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, was taken according to the law, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Referring to a claim by Rosmah's daughter, Nooryana Najwa Najib, that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had gone too far in arresting her mother, Dr Mahathir said the action was taken without any idea of revenge.

"If it's against the law, the legal process will be carried out; that is our promise and there is no idea of revenge and anything like that.

"The law says (that) if you steal money, you will be charged in court. Whether the court agrees or not, that is a different matter," he said to reporters after launching the 6th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and related meetings here yesterday.

Nooryana Najwa, in an Instagram post on Wednesday, said she could accept the action taken against her father, Najib, but the arrest of her mother and the raid on her grandmother Tun Rahah Mohammad Noah's house was excessive.

Rosmah was arrested at 3.20 pm on Wednesday while giving her statement at the MACC headquarters here. She claimed trial to 17 charges of money laundering at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday.

Asked about the arrest of Azman Noor Adam, the younger brother of Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Adam, for having allegedly insulted the Prime Minister on social media, Dr Mahathir said the police should not have acted that way.

Politicians must accept being criticised, he said, and added that he has been called many names during his previous tenure as the prime minister and never took action against the perpetrators.

"I don't mind being insulted by anybody; it's not going to affect me. There was one case in Penang and I told them (police) to not take any action like that," he said.

Azman Noor was arrested by police under the Sedition Act on Tuesday for allegedly sharing an insulting photo of Dr Mahathir on social media.

Lokman Noor told the media that his brother was held by a police team at his house at 3 am and taken to the Shah Alam district police headquarters where he was remanded for four days to facilitate investigation into the case. - Bernama