Wife of Malaysian ex-PM Najib denies VIP jail claims as 1MDB legal battles continue with appeals

KUALA LUMPUR – Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, on Dec 28 dismissed accusations that her husband receives special treatment in prison.

Rosmah, 74, said Najib, who is serving a jail term over offences linked to the 1MDB financial scandal, is allowed basic activities such as exercise, but denied claims that he is housed under privileged conditions.

On Dec 22, the High Court dismissed Najib’s judicial review to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest. It said the alleged addendum order in 2024 by the then King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, was issued outside the constitutional framework and was therefore invalid and unenforceable.

Najib’s lawyer, Mr Farhan Shafee, has since confirmed that an appeal was filed on Dec 24.

When asked if Najib has a room with air-conditioning to himself, Rosmah replied: “No, there isn’t. It is the same.”

“But it is not like there are six people in one room or anything,” she said during an interview with The Straits Times and other media.

Rosmah said security precautions have been taken for his safety, but this does not amount to preferential treatment.

Opposition parties Malaysian United Democratic Alliance and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in March 2024 called on the Home Ministry to explain the alleged special treatment accorded to Najib, who is currently serving his sentence in Kajang Prison, just outside Kuala Lumpur.

Their remarks came after preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin, who also served time in the prison for nine months, alleged that he saw Najib being given “very special treatment”, such as not being required to wear prison attire.

In August 2022, a photograph also went viral for purportedly showing a cell for VIPs equipped with shelves, beds and a table. Malaysia’s Prisons Department denied the claim.

In the past, detention conditions for prominent political figures have varied.

Current prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was imprisoned before being pardoned in 2018, was known to have, on at least one occasion, watched television coverage of political events while under detention.

Rosmah said her family continues to visit Najib, 72, regularly and takes their five grandchildren to see him, adding that while she worries about his health, she believes he is coping.

“He is quite self-sufficient because he has gone to boarding school,” she said, noting that he has a healthy diet. Najib went to Malvern College in Britain for his secondary schooling in the late 1960s.

She acknowledged that public criticism accusing her of being the cause of her husband’s downfall has been painful.

“Of course, I feel hurt. But what is important is that my friends believe in me… I know that we are not like what they think we are. It is impossible to control everybody’s mouths,” she said.

She also criticised those who she said had celebrated the two court decisions that went against Najib.

“Don’t laugh, not just at me, but don’t laugh at other people’s misfortunes. It is not good,” she said.

The High Court on Dec 26 sentenced Najib to 15 years’ jail over 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering. Najib’s legal team said an appeal would be filed on Dec 29.

Najib is currently serving a six-year prison sentence, which began on Aug 23, 2022, over another 1MDB-related case. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in jail, but this was halved by royal pardon in February 2024.

Rosmah herself was convicted by the High Court on Sept 1, 2022, on three corruption charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined RM970 million (S$308 million). A stay of execution was granted pending appeal, a process that remains ongoing.

On Sept 17, 2025, Malaysia’s Court of Appeal dismissed her bid to recuse the High Court judge who presided over her trial, ruling that there was no evidence of bias. Her appeal to recuse the judge is scheduled to be heard by the Federal Court on Feb 25.

Separately, she was acquitted by the High Court in December 2024 in a case involving 17 money laundering charges.