Is former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak staying in a swanky prison, after his conviction for corruption in the 1MDB financial scandal?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Najib Razak Is Staying In This Swanky Prison!
People are sharing a viral photo, and posts, claiming that former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is staying in a swanky prison, after his conviction for corruption in the 1MDB financial scandal.
Here are a few examples of the posts that normally accompanies the viral photo (with our English translation where necessary):
PENJARA UNTUK VIP.
Penjara atau bilik tahanan untuk VIP tak sama seperti bilik banduan biasa.
Jangan terkejut , Bilik penjara VIP mungkin aksesnya lebih hebat berbanding rumah orang awam.
Diberi tv , internet , buku , aircond dan katil tilam berkualiti tinggi.
PRISON FOR VIP
Prison or holding room for VIP is not the same as the standard prison room.
Don’t be shocked. VIP prison room may have better facilities than a common person’s house.
Includes TV, Internet, book, air-conditioning and high-quality bed and mattress.
Najib isn’t in a cell. A good friend whose cousin is a senior prison officer at Kajang said Najib is given a house within the prison grounds.
These houses are meant for senior prison officers.
Claim : Najib Razak Is Staying In This Swanky Prison!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media like Facebook and Twitter, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Prison Quarters Are Not Within Prison Compound
Malaysian prisons have staff quarters on campus for junior officers, but senior officers generally live off-campus.
Even so, the prison staff quarters are not located within the prison compound, but in a separate area some distance away.
This satellite map shows you just how far the Kajang Prison quarters are from the main prison complex.
It is therefore impossible for the Kajang Prison to allocate one of these quarters for Najib Razak’s use.
Fact #2 : Viral Photo Was Of Swiss Prison
The viral photo of the swanky prison room that was allegedly arranged for Najib Razak was actually taken in 2011.
It does not show any prison cell or accommodation in the Kajang Prison. It is a photo of a 3-inmate cell at the Champ-Dollon Prison in Switzerland.
The Champ-Dollon Prison was notorious for overcrowding, so the Swiss government refurbished the cells to make them more spacious. The new prison cells now accommodate 3 prisoners, and even comes with an attached bathroom!
This photo was taken by the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA when the newly refurbished rooms were unveiled in July 2011.
The official caption for this photo is in French, but translates to “View of a cell for three inmates during new annex’s inaguration on July 25, 2011, in Thonex, near Geneva“.
Fact #3 : Malaysia Prisons Department Refutes Claims
On 24 August 2022, the Malaysia Prisons Department (Jabatan Penjara Malaysia) refuted the viral claims and photo, and again on 7 September 2022.
It also stated that Najib Razak will not be accorded any special treatment, and stressed that all prisoners will be treated the same.
Fact #4 : Najib Razak Already Had Some Preferential Treatment
Najib Razak was already shown some preferential treatment by being taken to the Kajang Prison in a Volvo SUV, with a rather large police escort.
However, there is really no evidence (yet) that he received any preferential treatment inside the Kajang Prison.
Many netizens are calling for the Malaysia Prisons Department to post photos of Najib Razak’s prison cell to assure them that he is not getting preferential treatment. However, that is unlikely to happen.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
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