Najib’s conviction: A flicker of Hope when the system bends but does not break

I cannot help but feel a sense of relief at the verdict of guilty against Najib Razak, who has been sentenced to a further 15 years’ imprisonment for abuse of power and money laundering – five years short of the maximum sought by the prosecution.

Yet even as the wish to celebrate rose in me, I hesitated. I wondered if it was insensitive, even cruel, to rejoice at the downfall of a man who had once been our prime minister?

Our system does need empathy, I thought, but certainly not for someone who plundered the nation and manipulated it for personal gain. Empathy should not be squandered on an entitled elite who tested the system, cheated it and robbed the people of billions.

And so I decided that I would celebrate – but not at Najib’s predicament, for which he has no one to blame but himself – but for Hope. 

Hope has begun to flicker once again in my heart; hope because I had wanted so desperately to acknowledge that our system still houses individuals capable of great integrity, reason and courage.

Collin Sequerah and Alice Loke (the latter having turned down Najib’s bid for house arrest days earlier) are outstanding judges – judges who examined the evidence with deep reasoning and logic. 

Their verdicts remind us that the law can still function as it should. I am convinced. We are all convinced. No one is left in doubt – not even Zaid Ibrahim, Najib’s long-time supporter and ally. 

For years now, this country has struggled to resurrect itself from cycles of failure – in trust, accountability, responsibility and transparency. Corruption and the abuse of power had pushed at the very edges of the system and had bent it. It would not have taken long to break it. 

Over the past decade alone, we have been left with several unresolved cases: the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat, and the death of Teoh Beng Hock. 

Each case has ended without any real closure, leaving behind more questions than answers – and more dark secrets. In the process, public trust in the police has eroded. Is it ineptitude when they are unable to locate M Indira Gandhi’s ex-husband and her daughter after 16 years?

Or is it the power that they wield – granted by the system – that intoxicates them into violence? The police are mandated to be our protecters and watchdogs. However, a pattern of incidents and allegations has severely undermined public trust. There have been documented cases of fatal shootings of suspects that critics argue involved excessive force.

When there is a perception that some officers act with impunity rather than upholding the law, and without transparent regard for due process, it constitutes a profound institutional crisis.

The failure to resolve cases like the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat, or to enforce court orders decisively in cases like that of M Indira Gandhi, feeds this dangerous perception.

Against this stark background, these two judges, Sequerah and Loke, stand out like beacons, reminding us that the system still prevails, and that the principles of the law – and the consequences of violating them – have not entirely disappeared. 

Yet, despite the historic conviction of Najib, there is still concern that things may continue as they did before.

A troubling question lingers. The team that prosecuted Najib displayed outstanding brilliance, intelligence and capability – but where was that same and brilliance and resolve in other high-profile cases? Is this conviction an anomaly or the start of a genuine rejuvenation?

In September 2023, Deputy PM Zahid Hamidi was granted a discharge not amounting to acquittal on 47 charges. Today, he remains deputy PM – a stark reflection of a system that appears increasingly indifferent to integrity and accountability at the highest levels of power.

This and other unresolved contradictions remain the elephant in the room. It points to a system that has not merely tolerated corruption, but too often shielded the political elite from its consequences. Something is deeply wrong with a society that is unable to recognise injustice or when it favours the powerful, the wealthy and the titled.

Joseph Masilamany, in “Najib, house arrest, and the Malaysia we are still becoming”, poses the critical question: does power bend the system, or does the system resist power?

Anyone capable of thinking knows the answer. Power has bent the system – and has been doing so for years. Those who benefit from this bending have no interest in integrity. At its core, this is a failure of vigilance – a complacency. 

We urgently need to resurrect the fundamentals: the rules, procedures and clearly defined duties required to create trust, accountability and predictability.

Whether one is prime minister, the treasury chief or a police officer, the role must impose responsibility beyond personal interest. No one entrusted with authority should abuse it. Nor should anyone be allowed to dip their greedy little fingers into the cookie jar without consequence.

Today, we spend countless hours and millions of taxpayers’ ringgit, investigating and prosecuting corruption because the system failed to act early, decisively and impartially.

When the 1MDB scandal erupted in 2015, the system failed to detect a heist of billions. It was not the MACC, not Bank Negara nor any of our enforcement agencies that exposed it. It was Clare Rewcastle Brown, a British journalist, who, with the tenacity of a bloodhound, followed the money and revealed the truth through Sarawak Report.

So where were our own watchdogs? Where were the checks and counter-checks? What were our institutions doing while billions flowed across banks, borders and jurisdictions?

Yes, Najib has been convicted. We can only hope his imprisonment marks the beginning of a genuine clean-up. We need a fundamental revamp of the system to ensure consistency. We have to dismantle the entrenched culture of impunity and complacency. 

For now, a moment of rejoicing is understandable and well deserved. But vigilance must follow this conviction. If nothing changes in the months ahead, then Najib’s conviction will amount to little more than a brief flash in the pan – a mirage of justice in the desert of the lost.

Wishing you all a happy New Year filled with Hope for a new beginning.

Sukeshini Nair
Co-editor, Aliran newsletter
30 December 2025

Support our work by making a donation. Tap to download the QR code below and scan this QR code from Gallery by using TnG e-wallet or most banking apps: