Former Malaysian PM Najib to return to jail once discharged from hospital
PETALING JAYA - Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been admitted to the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital for further treatment and monitoring of his health, said the Prisons Department.
The department said Najib was sent for a medical check-up at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) after saying that he felt unwell, before then being transferred to the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital on Sept 19.
"He will be sent back to Kajang Prison to serve his prison sentence as soon as medical experts give him clearance," the department said in a statement on Wednesday.
Najib, 69, is on trial over four charges of abuse of power to obtain bribes totalling RM2.28 billion (S$700 million) from state fund 1MDB, and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
He is serving a 12-year jail term for an earlier case related to 1MDB.
Najib was first reported to have been admitted to HKL on Sept 4 for what an aide described as routine medical checks, but was able to attend a court hearing the next day.
His daughter, Nooryana Najwa, alleged in a social media post the next day that doctors who saw Najib again on Sept 10 prescribed a change in medication and discharged him back to the Kajang prison complex where he is serving his sentence.
She also claimed that Najib's request to remain under observation at the hospital was denied.
Najib's ongoing trial on 1MDB-related corruption charges was vacated for a week owing to his medical condition.
His lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah at the High Court on Sept 14 that Najib was undergoing medical tests on a daily basis because of his blood pressure and stomach ulcers.
The trial is scheduled to resume next Monday. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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