Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has told opposition supporters to "grow up" after many have drawn comparisons between his 1MDB-related trials and the reckless driving case involving the clerk Sam Ke Ting.
He said he too has his grievances towards the judiciary, but like it or not, this is the nature of Malaysia's judicial system.
He also pointed out that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim was also allowed bail after the Court of Appeal convicted him for sodomy in May 2014, after which he had gone to campaign in the Kajang by-election.
"Why question me if Anwar enjoyed the same treatment? Why not link Sam's case to Anwar's case?
"Why the gang on the other side does not blame Tommy Thomas, who filed an appeal against the first court decision to acquit Sam in 2019?" he said in a Facebook post today.
Thomas was the attorney-general during the Pakatan Harapan administration from June 2018 to February 2020.
Earlier today, the Johor Bahru High Court overturned Sam's acquittal from a charge of reckless driving that caused the death of eight cycling teenagers in 2017. Her lawyer intends to appeal against the High Court decision.
The decision had caused an uproar among opposition lawmakers. One aspect of the case that was criticised was the High Court's ruling that Sam must first obtain the Court of Appeal's leave before seeking a stay of execution on the jail sentence and fine against Sam.
Many opposition MPs had argued this was unfair because there were many precedents that allowed otherwise, with some drawing comparisons to Najib's cases.
"If Najib can get bail roaming around pending appeal, so should Miss Sam," wrote Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin on Facebook.
Don't turn tragedy into political capital
Meanwhile, Najib accused opposition supporters of framing the case as a racial issue pitting the Malays against Chinese Malaysians, which he said was wrong.
"The intentions of the gang on the other side are crystal clear – they want to use this case as capital for racial politics of Chinese against Malays and link it to me so people will hate me.
"This is wrong. This case should not be seen from a racial perspective. This case is a tragedy involving a young woman and the death of eight youths.
"Please don't turn this tragedy into capital for the politics of race and hatred. Grow up, please. The decision not to offer bail to Sam has nothing to do with me nor the government," he said.
It should be noted that Umno leaders had also capitalised on this issue before during political speeches.
During the 2019 Tanjung Piai by-election campaign, which took place soon after Johor Bahru Magistrate's Court had acquitted Sam, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed it shows the law is being abused under Harapan's watch.
Zahid did not mention the woman's race during his ceramah, but criticism of the court ruling at the time was focused on her Chinese ethnicity.
Regardless, Najib expressed hope that Sam's case would be fairly adjudicated.
"Every individual in Malaysia has a right to a fair and complete defence. I, too, hope Sam will get a fair adjudication.
"We can agree or disagree with judges' decisions, but this is the country's judicial system," he said. - Mkini
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