Najib gets 'very special' treatment in prison, says Wan Ji

Najib gets 'very special' treatment in prison, says Wan Ji

Published: Mar 28, 2024 12:26 PM


INTERVIEW | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is indeed serving his sentence in the Kajang prison, albeit by receiving “very special treatment”.

Preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin, who was recently released after serving his sentence there, said this in dismissing speculations from certain quarters that Najib was not jailed in the Kajang prison.

“It would be incorrect to say that Najib is not in prison. He is indeed in Kajang prison. He’s there every day, except when he’s out for court proceedings,” Wan Ji told Malaysiakini in a recent interview session.

The former religious adviser to the Penang chief minister then claimed that Najib is accorded “very special treatment”, unlike ordinary prisoners.

“He (Najib) does not wear the prisoner garb. He wears ‘normal’ clothes like one would at home.

“It’s not that he’s clad in a suit (all the time). He just wears normal clothes, while I wore prisoner garb throughout,” Wan Ji said, further claiming that Najib was housed in a “special block” in the prison.

“He is special. Not just special, but ‘very special’,” Wan Ji quipped.

Malaysiakini has reached out to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and the Prisons Department on the matter and is awaiting a reply.

Malaysiakini has also contacted Najib’s lawyer for comment.


‘Saw from afar’

Wan Ji was fully released from prison on March 22, about six months after he started his nine-month jail term for sedition.

He began serving his jail term on Sept 25 last year over a 2014 sedition case linked to the Selangor sultan.

The preacher was previously let out of prison on Jan 1 under the Licensed Release of Prisoners programme, which allows a prisoner to live outside the jail, albeit with limited mobility, and the need to seek approval to conduct any activities.

Elaborating, Wan Ji said he had no chance to interact with Najib during his time at the Kajang prison.

“I saw Najib from afar. My block is right at the back (of the prison complex), while his (Najib’s block) is near the field.

“So when my lawyer came to see me, I would walk past (Najib’s block) and see him. I never had the chance to talk to him.”

Najib was jailed for 12 years and fined RM210 million after the Federal Court upheld his sentence and conviction in the SRC International case in August 2022.

He is also on trial for other matters related to the 1MDB scandal.

In February, the Pardons Board cut Najib’s 12-year jail sentence to six and reduced the original RM210 million fine to RM50 million - a whopping 76 per cent.

The board’s decision means that the former Pekan MP’s official release date has been brought forward to August 2028.

However, Najib could be released earlier on “good behaviour” in August 2026 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.