KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court on Wednesday dismissed a bid by imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an April application, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a Jan. 29 pardons board meeting chaired by Sultan Abdullah, which also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine.
Najib's counsel, Mohamed Shafee Abdullah, said it was disappointing for the High Court to rule Wednesday that the government has “no legal duty” to verify if such an order existed. He said they would file an appeal.
“The court said there is no legal duty but in terms of ethics, the government should have answered,” Shafee told a news conference at the court building.
In his application, Najib has accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office Jan. 31.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had no knowledge of such an order as he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib's application have not made any public comments.
Shafee said Najib’s application was not based on hearsay but that there was “digital evidence” of the addendum as Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz had taken a snapshot of it on his mobile phone when told by Sultan Abdullah. He said the government’s silence also implied there is such an addendum order.
“One thing is clear, not one person or any government institutions have said that this addendum doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, just say so. … If the government dare says clearly there is no addendum, we can all go home and sleep,” he said.
Najib, 70, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry on why Najib appeared to be given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
The Malaysian Bar, which represents over 20,000 lawyers, filed an application to challenge the pardons board decision that it said was illegal, unconstitutional and invalid. It said the decision made a mockery of Najib’s other ongoing criminal cases. The hearing for the Bar’s challenge started this week.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
FILE - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex escorted by prison officers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, April 4, 2024. A Malaysian court Wednesday, July 3, 2024, dismissed a bid by imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.(AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Beryl swirled ashore on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula near the resort town of Tulum as a Category 2 storm early Friday, whipping trees and knocking out power after leaving a trail of destruction and at least 11 dead across the Caribbean region.
Beryl was expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical storm as it crosses over the peninsula before it re-emerging into the Gulf of Mexico and likely regaining hurricane strength, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Once in the warm waters of the Gulf, Beryl is forecast to head toward northern Mexico near the Texas border, an area that already was soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.
Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados in recent days and on Tuesday became the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadine, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.
After landfall in Mexico on Friday, Beryl’s maximum windspeeds had decreased to 100 mph (160 kph), but Tulum would continue to see “large and destructive waves,” the hurricane center said. The area would face heavy rainfall and potential flooding in the coming hours, according to forecasts from Mexico’s National Water Commission.
Mexican authorities had moved some tourists and residents out of low-lying areas around the Yucatan peninsula prior to landfall, but tens of thousands remained to tough out the strong winds and expected storm surge. Much of the area around Tulum is just a few yards (meters) above sea level.
The city was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas on Friday morning.
No deaths or wounded had been reported as of Friday morning, but 40% of the Tulum's electricity continued to be down, said Laura Velázquez, national coordinator of Mexican Civil Protection.
“Don't go out yet, wait until the hurricane completely passes,” said Velázquez, speaking on a video in a morning press briefing.
Once a sleepy, laid-back village, in recent years Tulum has boomed with unrestrained development and now has about 50,000 permanent inhabitants and at least as many tourists on an average day. The resort now has its own international airport.
The storm's center early Friday was about 15 miles (25 kilometers) north-northwest of Tulum and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph (about 24 kph), the hurricane center said.
As the storm approached, official had set up shelters in schools and hotels. As the wind began gusting over Tulum's beaches Thursday, officials on four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave and authorities shut down and evacuated beachside hotels. S ea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.
Tourists also took precautions. Lara Marsters, 54, a therapist visiting Tulum from Boise, Idaho, said had filled up empty water bottles from the tap. “We’re going to hunker down and stay safe," she said.
Earlier in the week, the hurricane damaged or destroyed 95% of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and ripped off roofs and knocked out electricity in Jamaica.
On Union Island, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a man who identified himself as Captain Baga described the storm’s impact, including how he had filled two 2,000-gallon rubber water tanks in preparation.
“I strapped them down securely on six sides; and I watched the wind lift those tanks and take them away -- filled with water,” he said Thursday. “I’m a sailor and I never believed wind could do what I saw it do, if anyone (had) ever told me wind could do that, I would have told them they lie!”
The island was littered with debris from homes that looked like they had exploded.
Girlyn Williams and Jeremiah Forde were trying to recover what they could Thursday around their home, where only a concrete foundation remained standing.
They had run from room to room during the storm as different sections of their house were being destroyed. Eventually, they hid in a small space created by a rubber water tank that got wedged between the house and a concrete tank. Williams cut her leg in the scramble and needed six stitches.
Myers reported from Kingston, Jamaica. Associated Press writers Renloy Trail in Kingston, Jamaica; Mark Stevenson, María Verza and Mariana Martínez Barba in Mexico City; Coral Murphy Marcos in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Lucanus Ollivierre on Union Island, St. Vincent and Grenadines, contributed to this report.
A man inspects a home destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
A man looks out of the window of his home, which was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
Workers remove trees branches felled by Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. What had been the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, weakened to a Category 3 by early Thursday but remained a major hurricane taking aim at Mexico’s Caribbean coast. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
An employee places sandbags along a hotel path as protection from high waters in anticipation of Hurricane Beryl's arrival, in Tulum, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Employees board up windows of a hotel as protection in anticipation of Hurricane Beryl's arrival, in Tulum, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Tourists lounge on a beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival, in Tulum, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A man bails water out of his boat in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
A tree felled by Hurricane Beryl blocks a street in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
Cars drive under a leaning utility pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
Soldiers on patrol ride past a leaning utility pole in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
A tree felled by Hurricane Beryl blocks a street in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
A worker secures a dinosaur statue at a theme park ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival in Chicxulub, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina)
An aerial view of a home damaged by Hurricane Beryl in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
A boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl lays on its side at a dock in Kingston, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Hudson)
Boats lie on land for protection in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Progreso, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina)
A man stands next to a business destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
Soldiers ask a tourist to evacuate Mirador beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival in Tulum, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A man removes debris from his home, which was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
People walk past a souvenir shop's storefront boarded up preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Beryl, in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
A man takes a video from the rocky shore of Mirador beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival, in Tulum, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
People relocate a boat for its protection ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Progreso, Mexico, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina)
