Following his and his wife’s imprisonment for corruption, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor have been stripped of their Datuk titles.
Najib’s “Datuk Seri” title was stripped by the Sultan of Selangor, and his “Datuk” title has also been revoked, according to a statement from the Selangor royal palace.
His wife, Rosmah’s Datin Paduka Seri title have also been stripped by the Sultan of Selangor. However, the convicted-corrupted pair still have other titles from other royal Malaysian houses.
Najib is currently in prison serving a 12-year sentence, while his wife was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment but is planning to appeal.
Both of them still have further trials to face.
Recap
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was previously sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in relation to the 1MDB scandal.
His wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also in court on 1 September, and was charged with soliciting RM187.5 million in bribes from a contractor in 2016 and 2017, as well as receiving bribes of RM6.5 million from the same contractor twice – she did so to help the contractor secure a RM1.25 billion government project.
The 70-year-old was found guilty of all three of her charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, as well as a fine of RM970 million.
Najib’s prison sentence
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, failed in his final appeal before the Federal Court and was sent to prison with immediate effect on 23 August.
He will be serving a 12-year jail sentence for a slew of offences, including corruption; as well as being fined RM210 million.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat ruled that Najib had failed to show that the findings of the lower court were erroneous and needed the apex court to intervene.
The decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal were then upheld.
President of UMNO Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as well as Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, were present at the hearing when he received his verdict.
Najib was convicted on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering, and 1 count of using his power for illegal activities.
This was in relation to Najib misappropriating RM42 million of funds that belonged to SRC Internation, which was a subsidiary of 1MDB.
He was earlier sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for his offences back in July 2020, but he filed multiple appeals against his earlier convictions, before his judgment yesterday.
This makes Najib the first former prime minister of Malaysia to be sentenced to prison.