KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Amid social media uproar, the Prisons Department today clarified that a video of convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak broadcast on national television was filmed before he became an inmate of Kajang Prison.
The department said the video had been recorded by state-owned broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) for Episode 57 of its Kembara Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family Adventure), which featured the history and background of Pekan, and is not related to politics.
“The Malaysian Prisons Department insists that no video recording involving Najib has been made by any media agencies in the prison premises as what was transmitted,” it said in a statement.
The video was aired on TV1 yesterday and subsequently went viral on social media, triggering uproar from Malaysians who questioned if the disgraced Umno politician was campaigning for the 15th general election despite being in prison.
The department urged the public not to spread information before verification as legal action can be taken against those irresponsible enough to do so.
Last Thursday, Bernama reported Prisons Department senior director (Prison Policy) Supri Hashim as saying that all prison inmates, including Najib, are not allowed to issue any statement for the purpose of election campaigning.
Najib was sent to Kajang Prison on August 23 after losing his appeal to reverse his conviction of stealing RM42 million belonging to government investment company SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and also fined RM210 million.
However, he is applying for a review as well as seeking a royal pardon, simultaneously.
He is still on trial for several other 1MDB-related charges.
