COMMENT | On any working day, you will see prisoners being brought to court for their pending cases. They are attired in an all-white prison uniform, handcuffed and accompanied escorted by one warden, sometimes more. When the court adjourns or the case is disposed of, they are usually sent to court lock-up, and while waiting for transport back to prison, they are served nasi bungkus.

But there’s one prisoner who comes in a suit, a pressed shirt and a matching tie. He arrives and returns in an air-conditioned SUV at the end of each day’s proceedings. This is because Najib Abdul Razak, who is serving a 12-year jail term, was once our prime minister and the Prison Department has used its discretion to proffer these “privileges”.

But his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah denied that he is special. “No, you will be surprised if he’s special, they don’t even give him a room here (in the courthouse) for him to sit down and eat,” he...