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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Malaysia police probe claims ex-Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud was taken from hospital amid legal row

  • A police report alleges that Taib’s wife, Ragad Kurdi Taib, had forcibly removed him from a hospital in Kuching over the weekend
  • The claim set social media abuzz and comes as she is being sued by Taib’s children over the transfer of shares linked to a wealthy conglomerate

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Taib Mahmud arrives at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on May 21, 2013. File photo: AFP
Joseph Sipalan

Malaysian police on Monday said they were investigating social media-fuelled claims that former Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud was forcibly taken from hospital against his doctor’s orders, amid an ongoing legal dispute between his Syrian wife and his children over his vast fortune.

Taib, 87, the Malaysian state’s chief minister for over three decades, took office in 1981, the same year Mahathir Mohamad first rose as prime minister. He has largely been out of public view over at least the past year, fuelling rumours of his deteriorating health.
Malaysian social media buzzed with rumours over the weekend after viral posts on X, Facebook and Reddit showed a copy of a police report, believed to have been filed by Taib’s doctor, alleging that the ex-governor’s wife, Ragad Kurdi Taib, had removed him from the Normah Medical Specialist Centre in the state capital of Kuching late on Saturday night.
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“Sarawak police confirm that we have received a police report related to a viral issue about a case involving the former governor being brought out of a hospital,” Sarawak police chief Mancha Ata said in a statement.

Outgoing Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud (right) hands over his resignation letter to the Governor of Sarawak, Abang Muhammad Salahuddin, on February 12, 2014. File photo: AFP
Outgoing Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud (right) hands over his resignation letter to the Governor of Sarawak, Abang Muhammad Salahuddin, on February 12, 2014. File photo: AFP

The probe involves alleged rash or negligent behaviour that endangers human life or personal safety of others, which carries a penalty of up to three months in jail, a maximum 500 ringgit (U$105) fine or both.

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