UMNO raises $2.27 million for Najib Razak’s fine — Channel NewsAsia
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a solidarity fund established by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has raised 9.25 million ringgit, or $2.27 million, to pay the court fine of former Prime Minister Najib Razak. The total fine amounts to 50 million ringgit, Channel NewsAsia reports.
Pardon conditions
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the funds raised so far are insufficient. According to him, the party is continuing its donation campaign and hopes to reach the amount set by the Pardons Board.
UMNO established the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund on September 18 after Malaysia’s king, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, granted Razak a conditional pardon. It allows the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his six-year prison term at home until August 23, 2028, provided that the stipulated requirements, including payment of the fine, are met.
Zahid noted that the fine must be paid before house arrest can be fully implemented. In the first three hours after its launch, the fund collected 634,000 ringgit, and in about a day the amount reached 1 million ringgit.
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The family’s position and reaction
The former prime minister’s eldest son, Nizar Najib, said that even if his father’s assets were unfrozen, the family would not be able to immediately raise 50 million ringgit. He said this could partly help, but the required amount remains far off.
Nizar, a member of the Pahang state legislative assembly for the Peramu Jaya constituency, also said that the family did not ask UMNO to launch the fundraising drive. Razak’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, previously said that the former head of government does not have sufficient personal funds to pay the fine and feels uncomfortable about collecting money from the public.
The campaign has also drawn criticism: opponents posted screenshots of one-cent donations and expressed disagreement with ordinary Malaysians having to raise money to pay a former prime minister’s fine.
