For all of the concerns about rising autocracy and authoritarianism, Malaysia gave the world a breath of fresh democratic air.  The country’s top court recently upheld the 12-year prison sentence for its former prime minister, Najib Razak.  

This comes while Razak’s political party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), still holds power over the country.  Malaysia’s current prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, is a party member.

Score one for the rule of law.  America and the West, take notes. 

Can you imagine Republicans in America allowing Trump to be prosecuted for anything at this point?  If a standard search and seizure riled them up, a drawn out prosecution and appeal process could spell doom for American democracy. 

Najib Razak was sentenced back in July 2020 for his part in the massive 1MDB scandal, and his case had been working through the appellate process ever since.  Meanwhile, Malaysia remained stable.  Although Razak tried to erode democratic checks and balances while in power (e.g., sacking critics, muzzling the media, etc.), the Malaysian people ultimately turned on him.

What will it take for Republicans to do the same with Donald Trump in America?  Or the British to turn away from its own Conservative party?  Or Hungarians to finally move on from the autocratic Viktor Orban? 

The West can learn from Malaysia.

An independent judiciary matters

The decision to force Razak to start his 12-year sentence would not have happened had Malaysia’s judiciary been in bed with its ruling political party, UMNO.  There’s still a remote chance he could apply for a review of the Federal Court decision.  These applications, however, are rarely successful in Malaysia.

Even if that fails, there’s still one final route to freedom for Razak.  A pardon.  Razak could seek a pardon from the king and never have to serve a day in prison.  Then it won’t matter how independent – and objective – Malaysia’s judiciary acted.

We should be hopeful though.  Most Malaysians seemed in favor of Razak being punished and serving his sentence.  The king would likely have to deal with widespread rioting and unrest if Razak is given a pardon at this point.   

Republicans in America should take note.  Do not rush to judgment over the many allegations against Trump, whether we’re talking about classified documents, obstructing an official proceeding, or some other offense (that would surprise nobody, including Republicans).

Western democracies, and American Republicans in particular, used to hold an independent judiciary and law enforcement in the highest esteem.  Now, whenever “their guy” is subjected to scrutiny, the process must be “rigged” and the players, “corrupt.”  These authoritarian tactics undermine an otherwise independent and objective judicial review process like the one Malaysia executed here.

Like Trump, Najib Razak tried to mud-sling as many defenses as possible to see what stuck.  Also like Trump, many of them were inconsistent and often contradictory.  The court noted this in upholding his sentence.

“The defence is so inherently inconsistent and incredible that it has not raised reasonable doubt on the case.”

– Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat 

Maybe Chief Justice John Roberts is paying attention. 

The importance of an independent attorney general

When Najib Razak initially came under scrutiny for the 1MDB scandal he tried to destroy democratic checks and balances.  He fired anyone he deemed disloyal in his government.  That included his deputy prime minister and attorney general.  He also clamped down on the media.

In Trumpian style, he appointed a “yes man” attorney general who cleared Razak of any wrongdoing related to 1MDB in 2016.  This yes man made the baseless argument that the money was a political donation from the Saudis.  Razak hoped his political power would prevent anyone from looking into it further.  

That all fell apart, however, when the Malaysian public largely voted against him in 2018.  Razak failed to form a majority government.  His game of pilfering public coffers was over.

The key lesson here is the cozy relationship often found in democracies between presidents or prime ministers and their attorney general.  The latter are almost always part of the executive branch and directly accountable to the very person they are responsible – at least in part – for checking.  

The fact that the attorney general is confirmed by the Senate (at least in the American system) is not enough.  There needs to be greater independence between a country’s leader and its chief law enforcement officer.  Whether that requires a separate branch of government, different reporting lines, or other solutions to reasonably ensure independence is a matter for additional debate.

Far too often presidents or prime ministers like Najib Razak use their attorney general’s office as their own personal law firm.  When in reality, the attorney general is supposed to act to uphold the constitution, not the leader’s political agenda or fraudulent schemes.          

Fraud at the 1MDB scale is hard to hide 

Eventually fraud catches up with you.  If you do it long enough – or big enough – it’s hard to hide forever.  Whether it’s Al Capone finally being taken down by bean counters, or Trump finding himself in the DOJ’s crosshairs for his handling of classified documents, if you walk like a crook, look like a crook, and sound like a crook for too long, someone might finally conclude you’re a crook.

That’s what finally happened to Najib Razak.  It was hard to hide over $1 billion that magically appeared in his bank account.  Especially when he gave lame excuses for the source of funds.  Or when he transformed the vehicle for his fraud – 1MDB – into a political fundraising machine, directly tying his future to fraudsters like Jho Low.

“This is a fucking scam — anybody who does this has stolen money. You wouldn’t spend money you worked for like that.”

– Jordan Belfort

The most entertaining aspect of this sad corruption story is the amount of money Razak and his wife spent.  Most criminals with that amount of money know they cannot live like kings and queens in public.  It brings too much heat.  Razak and his wife (Rosmah Mansor), who is also facing criminal charges, didn’t get the requisite criminal training. 

Here are a few examples of some of their purchases: “12,000 pieces of jewelry — 2,200 rings, 1,400 necklaces, 2,100 bracelets, 2,800 pairs of earrings, 1,600 brooches and 14 tiaras along with 567 handbags, 423 watches and 234 pairs of sunglasses.”

The lesson here is that fraud catches up with fraudsters.  This is a lesson American Republicans and other Western enablers should take heed before they too find themselves in the political and/or criminal crosshairs.

Kudos to Malaysia for showing the world that democracy and the rule of law can still work in the 21st century.

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