Pakatan’s Hanipa Maidin says Najib is guilty even if not proven guilty

(Malaysiakini) – After attendees to Najib Abdul Razak’s Hari Raya open house said that the former premier should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Sepang MP Hanipa Maidin says that the maxim should only apply in certain contexts, specifically during the judicial process.

“I am not saying that the principle or maxim is wrong. It is just that when it is being used frivolously, without context of the place, time and situation, it turns out funny.

“There is nothing wrong with that principle if we use it in the context of a trial in court. But if you want to use it in an unqualified manner in politics, it will become chaotic,” he said in a statement today.

Hanipa pointed out that during de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim’s trials for sodomy, he was criticised publicly even before the court came to a decision.

He also cited Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu being “bullied” and asked to relinquish his citizenship after mentioning the 1950 Bukit Kepong incident in a speech.

“If we want to use and follow the logic of these visitors in Pekan, the logic is the party led by (Najib) should not have lost so badly in the 14th general election.

“Yes, (Najib) hasn’t even been found guilty in the 1MDB case, how can the public punish and his party so badly in the general elections?

“So what is the message here? Simple. The logic of politics and of the law is not always the same,” he quipped.

Najib is currently under investigation for alleged involvement in the misappropriation of money from 1MDB.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing in the matter.