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Zaid Tells Anwar To Change His Mind About Najib & Free Him "For The Sake Of the People"

"Sure, he was found guilty, but in the scheme of things, RM42 million is small change," the former law minister claimed.

Cover image via Sayuti Zainudin/Malay Mail & Saw Siow Feng/Malay Mail

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Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who has served less than a year of his 12-year jail sentence after being found guilty in the theft of RM42 million, needs to be freed, according to former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

The UMNO member took to his Twitter account earlier today, 14 June, to urge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that he has to change his mind about Najib "for the sake of the people".

Zaid — whose law firm, Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew & Partners (ZIST), was hired and abruptly dropped by Najib in the midst of his RM42 million SRC International corruption appeal at the Federal Court — argued that even if Najib was found guilty, "RM42 million is small change" in the scheme of things.

"After all, from now on, corruption is a thing of the past under your strict and clean leadership. No one can say you are soft on corruption by pardoning him (Najib)," the 72-year-old went on to add.

Image via Ahmad Yusni/EPA

Zaid's argument to free the convicted criminal comes ahead of six state elections that are expected to take place in a couple of months

He claimed that "only Najib will help you (Anwar) win" as UMNO is weak to face the polls.

For context, Anwar leads a mega-coalition government at the federal level that is composed of several coalitions, including Barisan Nasional (BN) of which UMNO is the largest political party.

"This coming [state elections], [the Malaysia Madani government] needs to win; you need to be prime minister for a few more years. UMNO is weak, only Najib will help you win," Zaid said, addressing Anwar.

In March this year, the Federal Court dismissed Najib's application to review his conviction for stealing SRC International funds:

Meanwhile, he has applied to pursue a doctorate in economics:

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