Nazri believes Najib has done nothing wrong, until proven otherwise

Sheridan Mahavera Sheridan Mahavera Updated 7 years ago · Published on 7 Jun 2018 11:00AM · 12 Comments

Padang Rengas MP Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz says he has not met former prime minister Najib Razak since Barisan Nasional's defeat in the 14th general election. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Hasnoor Hussain, June 7, 2018.

LAST year, then minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz was unshaken in his belief that Najib Razak did nothing wrong in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.

He believed that the allegations against the former prime minister by US authorities were a foreign conspiracy to bring down the government.

Today, after the man he considers a “close friend” has been hauled up for questioning in the probe into the billions of ringgit believed to have been stolen from the state investor, Nazri is no longer sure.

“I believe what was said to me before by the (former) attorney-general (Mohamed Apandi Ali) and Najib,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“I still believe that Najib has done nothing wrong, until it is proven to the contrary. Until it’s proven by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Let’s wait until the investigation is completed,” said the former tourism and culture minister.

In 2016, Apandi cleared Najib of allegations that he had received funds siphoned from 1MDB.

Last week, Najib was questioned twice in relation to claims that RM42 million had been misappropriated from 1MDB subsidiary SRC International and deposited into his personal bank accounts.

Najib is implicated in a civil forfeiture suit by the US Department of Justice, which is probing how US$4.5 billion (RM22.5 billion) in stolen 1MDB funds was used to buy luxury assets in the US.

He is also accused of having received US$731 million in his personal accounts.

He has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family.

“Whatever the outcome of the investigation, it must be the truth, and we wait for that,” said Nazri, who is Padang Rengas MP.

He said he accepted Najib’s explanation the way he had accepted Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s reasons for firing and jailing Anwar Ibrahim in the late 1990s.

“I believe what I was told. Same as when Dr Mahathir said Anwar was guilty. So, it’s the same.”

During Dr Mahathir’s first tenure as prime minister, he had sacked Anwar, who was his deputy, from the cabinet. Anwar was subsequently tried and jailed for abuse of power and sodomy in 1999.

He has always maintained that the charges were trumped up.

Dr Mahathir and Anwar have since reconciled, and they are both part of the new Pakatan Harapan administration.

Despite his close ties with Najib, Nazri said he has not met the latter since Barisan Nasional’s defeat on May 9.

“If he asks, I’ll go. I don’t want to disturb his routine because he is busy. I don’t want to intrude. But if he calls, I’ll go.”

Nazri and Najib had come up at the same time in Umno Youth in the mid-1980s, during Dr Mahathir’s reign as Umno president.

Nazri said it was Najib who had persuaded him to contest the Padang Rengas seat again in the 13th general election, although he had wanted to retire from politics. – June 7, 2018.

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Comments

  • That was why I said that Umno can never changed with this present set of leaders. How stupid can they be? Evidences are right before their eyes n yet they still hold that the person is innocent. Hello, if you see a thief stole money in front of your eyes, though he has yet to be charged, this does not make him innocent. You have make yourself a fool n yet you think you are right

    Posted 7 years ago by Peace Maker · Reply

    • Nazri could at least be partly right in his opinion. Read my comment below..

      Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

  • Now he is being a political crockcroach. He is a survivor..Not a leader. His focus is long term survival, make good money. What he is saying shows UMNO is struggling with what to do..They just cannot admit to what they are, where they come from.. They are holding on to myths They will not admit, their predecessors who made them threw them out..

    Posted 7 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

    • He is a real gangster so be careful what u said about him, he may punch u in the face

      Posted 7 years ago by KF Leong · Reply

  • Yes, Najib is innocent until proven guilty
    however when u merely listen and dont weigh the evidence before you
    what can we say of you is you have blind loyalty
    which is what has led to UMNOs downfall
    even kampung folks have better power of deduction then UMNO members

    Posted 7 years ago by Satkunabalan Sabaratnam · Reply

  • Its best Nazri just shuts up.....just look at them, lost, got beaten and yet still arrogant as ever! These folks in UMNO never learned their lessons....Never will!!!! Looks at Jamal who claims to be a better MB for Selangor goes hiding and scared like a chicken and yet issues ststement from Palm Oil estate ..... and yet UMNO never diciplines their people .... worst still Sharizat announces she's not contesting .... why even make such an annoucement EVER. Just go ...... they say once beaten twice shy....but that's not true in Bolehland, I guess!!!! LOL

    Posted 7 years ago by Crishan Veera · Reply

  • Nazri could be right about Najib in this respect. Consider this with an open mind, will you? What if the hitherto "hidden" reality is that whatever money which turned up in Najib's bank account was deposited there without his actual knowledge, but he has a niggling suspicion at the back of his mind (which is not a crime!) who the depositer might be?..

    Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

    • What if you suddenly discovered you have a million ringgit extra in your bank account? Will you not report this to the bank? Will you not become suspicious?

      Posted 7 years ago by Lee Tai · Reply

    • Tak masuk logik, kalaulah begini, sesiapa yang tiba-tiba mendapati ada kelebihan wang yang dimasukkan ke dalam akaun peribadi mereka, mengikut logik ini, tak perlulah kita beritahu bank tersebut, tetapi kalau disiasat nanti, macam mana, adakah kita salah di sisi undang-undang?

      Posted 7 years ago by Malaysia Forward · Reply

    • For those who are unfamiliar with banking on such a grand scale of RM2.6 billion, one simply cannot plea ignorance of such an amount in ones account. AMLA (Anti Money Laundering Act) procedures would have kicked in the moment the transaction is triggered. The bank risk management at the highest level would be informed of such a significant amount being banked into an "individual" account. Furthermore, the account belong to the Prime Minister of the time. This is why Hussain Najadi is history.....

      Posted 7 years ago by Xavier Francis · Reply

  • I was pleasantly surprised once when my salary slip exhibited more money than what I was supposed to receive for that month, and thought that this ex gratia payment was a bonus. Upon enquiry it turned out that it was an admin error which was then rectified..

    Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

  • Hold on to that belief, Nazri, you are so going to need it!

    Posted 7 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply