Gov't agrees to form RCI on judiciary and 9 things that happened yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. High-level sources told Malaysiakini that the cabinet has agreed to establish a royal commission of inquiry on the judiciary, and said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will make an announcement on the matter soon.

2. Election Commission chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun said voters in Semenyih are free to display 'Bossku' slogans and images of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak when casting their ballots in the upcoming by-election.

3. The MACC arrested a legal adviser to Umno and BN, who had also acted as counsel for Najib, for allegedly laundering RM15 million from 2014 to 2015. He is expected to be charged today.

4. At the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Najib’s former media adviser Paul Stadlen was charged in absentia with laundering RM15 million.

5. Australia has rejected the asylum appeal of Sirul Azhar Umar, the convicted murderer of Altantuya Shaariibuu. However, his deportation is expected to be delayed until after capital punishment is abolished in Malaysia.

Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar said the state government

and has not issued ‘logging quotas’ since 2014 to protect forests in the state.

7. Umno Youth exco member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris was released from detention after his encounter with Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman last week was characterised as a “misunderstanding” by deputy inspector-general of police Noor Rashid Ibrahim.

8. Embattled Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was hit with another count of criminal breach of trust involving RM260,000 from Yayasan Akal Budi.

9. Amid an alleged plot within Pakatan Harapan to oust Mahathir, banners appeared in Kuala Lumpur urging the prime minister to step down.

10. Analysts from Fitch Solutions Macro Research believe that Putrajaya is trying to lower the price tag and scale of the East Coast Rail Link rather than scrap it altogether.