It took you 665 words to describe your inner thoughts - scared, frightened, afraid and terrified.
In your article, which was published in Malaysiakini on Thursday (Aug 18), the word that was conspicuously missing was – fear.
Najib Abdul Razak, you are just human. Fear is the word we use to describe an emotional reaction to something that seems dangerous. People fear things or situations that make them feel unsafe or unsure.
Your fear of being incarcerated is no longer a non-event or a happening in the distant future. It is imminent and could happen in a matter of days or weeks.
You started with: “I wish to record my objection in the strongest of terms of this appeal proceeding today where my rights to life, liberty, and right to a fair hearing are at stake, and that my counsel, who had tried to discharge themselves because they are not able or willing to represent me anymore, are still forced by the Federal Court to sit down at the bar table on the purport that I am being represented.”
The rest of the essay is a pathetic explanation as to why you are in this predicament and blaming the judiciary as if it is under an obligation to you or your lawyers.
I will not venture into the merits or demerits of your invective and prefer to leave it to the legal fraternity to address them, and many, including the Bar Council, have already expressed them.
In a nutshell, liberty is the freedom to live as you wish or go where you want. It reflects the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behaviour, or political views.
Liberty is not an exclusive right of a selected few like you. They are universal, and the right to do as an individual pleases without breaking the law forms the basis.
You talk about liberty, and sufficient to say, you are afraid – real afraid – of losing it.
Liberty to tell the truth
How then would you describe the predicament of an actor and activist who was pulled up for releasing yellow balloons at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur seven years ago?
Bilqis Hijjas was arrested, taken to the police station and later charged with “insulting behaviour” by dropping yellow balloons at an event attended by you and your wife.
The words “free media,” “democracy,” and “justice” were written on the balloons. No one talked about her rights and liberty.
What liberty are you talking about when your government suspended The Edge and detained its editor for just publishing the truth about the financial scandals brought about by 1MDB?
Did you care about the liberty of journalists to write the truth? Did anyone talk about liberty when editors and writers were shackled?
Najib, journalists need liberty too – to tell the truth and expose the many shenanigans which happened under your watch and those continuing to happen.
What can you say to Mathias Chang and Khairuddin Abu Hassan who were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, or Sosma with sabotaging the country’s banking and financial services?
They were charged under Section 124(L) for actions deemed detrimental to the country’s banking and financial services. What did they do? Lodging of reports about possible corrupt practices with law enforcement agencies in five foreign countries - France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
How was this intended to be a conspiracy to cause harm to the banking and financial system of Malaysia?
Yes, Najib. It all happened under your watch as you put in every effort to pretend that the troubles of 1MDB never existed and your coterie of ministers, sycophants and cronies sang the same song.
Liberty is for all
You will, of course, remember Australian journalist Mary Ann Jolley. You famously attempted to walk away from an interview. This was in 2018, after you were no longer the prime minister.
But in 2015, she was deported from Malaysia following her investigation into the 1MDB corruption scandal. The Home Ministry deemed her activity as having a “potential negative effect on the image of Malaysia”.
There were scores of other unpalatable incidents involving yourself directly and indirectly by using the systems in the government as your personal tools.
Remember how you ordered the sacking of the former attorney-general? The man did not even have time to pack his personal belongings before being marched out.
Do you remember how the MACC was crippled by replacing top officers and replacing them with people who would dance to your tune?
What about their liberty – to carry out their responsibility without hindrance? Did you ever think of their liberty before you ordered the axe to fall on them?
No, Najib. Liberty is for all but not for you.
You have forfeited it through your injudicious use of taxpayers’ money as if it was yours - accrued over the years as a result of your hard work.
The credit card bills, the jewellery, the renovations et al were made at the people’s expense, and there’s a price to pay for such indiscretions. These are not mere allegations but have been proven in court.
The High Court found you guilty, and the Court of Appeal affirmed that decision. Is it the Federal Court’s fault that you changed horses in midstream and asked for the hearing to be deferred?
I take courage and pride as a law-abiding Malaysian in saying: “Do the crime, do the time.” - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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