The Tamesis
Kuala Lumpur – Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, on December 28 refuted allegations that her husband received special treatment in prison.
Rosmah, 74, said Najib, who is serving prison time for crimes related to the 1MDB financial scandal, could engage in basic activities such as exercise, but dismissed suggestions that his living conditions were superior.
On December 22, the High Court rejected Najib’s judicial review to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. It is claimed that the supplementary order issued by the then King Sultan Abdullah Ahmed Shah in 2024 was issued outside the constitutional framework and is therefore invalid and unenforceable.
Najib’s lawyer, Mr. Farhan Shafi, later confirmed that Najib had filed an appeal on December 24.
When asked if Najib had his own air-conditioned room, Rosmah replied: “No, no. It’s all the same.”
“But it’s not like there are six people in a room or anything like that,” she said in interviews with The Straits Times and other media.
Rosmah said safety precautions had been taken for his safety, but this did not amount to preferential treatment.
In March 2024, the opposition parties United Democratic Alliance Malaysia and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia called on the Home Ministry to explain the special treatment allegedly given to Najib, who is currently serving a sentence in Kajang Prison outside Kuala Lumpur.
Their comments came after preacher Wanjivan Hussin, who is also serving a nine-month prison sentence, claimed he saw Najib receiving “very special treatment”, such as not being required to wear prison uniform.
In August 2022, a photo also went viral, purportedly showing a VIP cell equipped with shelves, a bed and a table. Malaysia’s prisons department denied the claims.
In the past, detention conditions for prominent politicians have varied.
Current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was imprisoned before being pardoned in 2018, is known to have watched television coverage of political events at least once while in detention.
Rosmah said her family continued to visit Najib, 72, regularly and took their five grandchildren to see him, adding that while she was worried about his health, she believed he was coping.
“He was very self-sufficient because he went to boarding school,” she said, noting that he ate a healthy diet. Najib went to Malvern College in the United Kingdom to receive secondary education in the late 1960s.
She admitted it pained her to be criticized by the public for being the cause of her husband’s downfall.
“Of course, I feel hurt. But the important thing is that my friends believe me…I know we’re not who we think we are. It’s impossible to control everyone’s mouth,” she said.
She also criticized those she said were celebrating two court rulings that went against Najib.
“Don’t laugh, not just at me, but at other people’s misfortunes. It’s not good,” she said.
The High Court sentenced Najib to 15 years in prison on December 26 on 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering. Najib’s legal team said it would file an appeal on December 29.
Najib is currently serving a six-year sentence that began on August 23, 2022, for another 1MDB-related case. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison, but received a royal pardon in February 2024, reducing his sentence to half.
Rosmah herself was convicted by the High Court on three corruption charges on September 1, 2022, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 970 million ringgit (S$308 million). A stay of execution has been granted pending appeal, a process that is still ongoing.
On September 17, 2025, the Malaysian Court of Appeal rejected her request to recuse the High Court judge presiding over the trial, ruling that there was no evidence of bias. Her appeal asking the judge to recuse herself is scheduled to be heard by the Federal Court on February 25.
