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Najib Razak in Court: When the Accused Becomes His Own Historian
By Mihar Dias October 2025
Datuk Seri Najib Razak never fails to surprise. Even in the solemn confines of a courtroom, he manages to turn his defence into a kind of tragicomic theatre — one that blurs the line between denial and self-parody.
“I would probably be the only alleged ‘corrupt politician/money-launderer’ who returns the so-called gratification that he worked so hard to obtain,” he declared. Facebook
But without stopping there, he added that he was “probably the first in recorded history” to inform the Governor of Bank Negara about his supposedly ill-gotten gains. The Edge
There it is — the grand irony of a man who sees himself as both victim and pioneer. Najib seems to believe that if history must remember him, it should at least record his originality: the only alleged wrongdoer who gave back his rewards, and did so politely, with proper banking etiquette.
One might be tempted to admire the creativity. After all, not many defendants manage to turn an explanation into a personal legend.
To most, the logic sounds like this: If I told the central bank about it, how could it be illegal? It’s almost endearing — like a schoolboy saying, “But I told the teacher I copied my homework, so it’s not cheating.”
The former premier’s words also reflect a deeper tragedy: the slow metamorphosis of Malaysia’s once-mighty leader into a kind of courtroom philosopher. Each statement he makes seems less about law and more about legacy — an attempt to wrestle narrative control from history itself.
He’s not arguing innocence so much as irony. He’s saying, “If I really was what they say I am, would I have been so honest, so transparent, so... courteous?”
It’s a curious kind of reasoning — one that belongs in a Kafka novel rather than a court of law.
But perhaps Najib is right about one thing: he may indeed be the first in recorded history to return his “gratuity” and announce it to the central bank. Not because it absolves him — but because no one else in history has ever needed to make that point in the first place.
For all the talk about being unique, it’s not the kind of uniqueness one would wish for. Najib’s predicament now is that he’s forever stuck between two worlds: the political martyr he wants to be, and the convicted man he already is.
In the end, his courtroom statement reads less like a defence and more like a diary entry of disbelief — that a man who once ruled this nation with absolute authority now has to explain himself like a character in his own tragicomic memoir.
If this is indeed a first in recorded history, one hopes it will also be the last.
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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