Media organisations from Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Korea, the Middle East to the United States, featured news of Najib’s charges prominently, with many using it as the lead story on websites.
The news was featured in many different languages from English, Mandarin, Tamil, Turkish and even Russian.
Among the outlets that reported on the former prime minister’s arrest included the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), The Guardian, Bloomberg, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Der Spigel, Asian Nikkei Review and the BBC.
The New York Times went with the heading “Malaysia’s Ex-Leader, Najib Razak, Is Charged in Corruption Inquiry” while WSJ went with the heading “1MDB Scandal: Najib Razak Is Charged in Court”.
Journalists from all over the world were in Kuala Lumpur to cover the trial first hand.
CNBC ran a commentary on how Najib’s arrest would test the country’s reform-minded government.
“The 1MDB case is seen as a way for Dr Mahathir to uphold his campaign pledges of restoring the rule of law and abolishing graft in a country where deeply-rooted patronage and cronyism have stymied economic and political reforms.
“To boost the country’s health, it’s imperative for Dr Mahathir’s team to show that the premier’s office will no longer be exploited, experts have said,” CNBC said in an editorial piece.
The South China Morning Post ran an article about how Najib was not the only world leader in court, giving the example of eight other world leaders who suffered the same fate.
Najib’s arrest was also considered breaking news by many outlets who also sent out instant alerts on this.
The former prime minister, has been charged for corruption and criminal breach of trust in a case linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
The 64-year-old was charged with misusing his position as a government official to receive a RM42mil bribe as inducement to provide a sovereign guarantee on behalf of the Malaysian Government for a loan of RM4bil from a government pension fund to SRC International Sdn Bhd. – ANN
At Umno meet, silence over support for Najib
KUALA LUMPUR— Umno’s top leadership today chose not to comment at all on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s high-profile charges today.
At the tail end of a press conference after the party’s supreme council meeting, president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was asked whether the party will hold a solidarity rally for the former prime minister.
Zahid simply smiled, refrained from commenting and proceeded to exit the press conference room.
While some Umno leaders such as Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and supreme council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam showed up in court today to support Najib, other leaders from the party were noticeably absent.
Najib, who will turn 65 on July 23, was slapped with three counts of criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code and one count of power abuse for self-gratification under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
He pleaded not guilty to all of them.
The judge imposed bail at RM1 million and granted an interim media gag order upon the request of Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
High Court judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak fixed the case for management on August 8, 2018, but set the trial proper to start from February 18 to 28, 2019.
The trial will then take a break and resume from March 4 to 8, 2019 before another short break, and continue from March 11 to 15, 2019. – MALAY MAIL
ANN / MALAY MAIL
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