A rare convergence of 3 former Malaysian PMs at court building, all facing separate legal battles
Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Razak turned up at Kuala Lumpur’s court complex on Thursday (Aug 27) for their respective court cases.
Najib Razak (left), Ismail Sabri Yaakob (centre) and Muhyiddin Yassin turned up at Kuala Lumpur’s court complex on Thursday (Aug 27) for separate legal battles. (Photos: CNA/Fadza Ishak and AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
KUALA LUMPUR: Three former Malaysian prime ministers converged at Kuala Lumpur’s court complex on Thursday (Aug 27) in a rare gathering of past national leaders.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Razak turned up at the Jalan Duta complex for separate legal battles.
Ismail Sabri was met by scores of supporters as he walked into the building flanked by his legal team. Two busloads of supporters came from Bera to support the 66-year-old, who is their local MP.
Ismail Sabri, who was prime minister from August 2021 to November 2022, was charged with failure to declare assets, including nearly US$40 million and gold bars, under the country’s anti-graft law.
He was initially scheduled to be charged on Aug 7, but proceedings were postponed to Aug 27 after he was admitted to the National Heart Institute, where he underwent a pacemaker procedure.
Ismail Sabri has been at the centre of corruption and money laundering allegations and was called in by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for multiple rounds of questioning last year. The anti-graft agency completed its probe in June 2025.
Najib arrived at court shortly after Ismail Sabri.
The 73-year-old, who was prime minister from April 2009 to May 2018, was back in court for the continuation of a civil lawsuit brought against him and several others over alleged losses linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
The trial is expected to continue with testimony on transactions and decisions involving US$5.64 billion the sovereign wealth fund alleges was misappropriated through fraudulent transactions.
Muhyiddin was the other former prime minister to turn up at the Kuala Lumpur court complex.
The 79-year-old, who served as prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021, continued his trial on seven charges linked to the Jana Wibawa programme, an initiative introduced to support businesses and stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Muhyiddin, who is also president of political party Bersatu, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain RM232.5 million (US$58 million) in gratification for the party, and three money laundering charges involving RM200 million.
The trial has seen a string of witnesses testify on projects, payments and companies allegedly linked to the programme.
