KUALA LUMPUR - A prominent Malaysian opposition politician was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail on Monday for leaking a classified document on a corruption scandal involving the prime minister. Rafizi was convicted of violating the country's Official Secrets Act by revealing parts of an Auditor-General's report into the scandal swirling around the state-owned fund 1MDB. Prime Minister Najib Razak is fighting allegations that billions of dollars were looted from 1MDB, which he founded in 2009. Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, has cracked down on critics to contain the scandal and last year brought domestic investigations to a halt. Human Rights Watch said Rafizi's conviction "can have only one purpose: to intimidate whistle-blowers into silence over the 1MDB corruption scandal".

Source: Bangkok Post November 14, 2016 11:48 UTC