Malaysia's ex-leader Najib Razak was found guilty Tuesday in his first trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, two years after the fraud contributed to the downfall of his long-ruling government.The former prime minister could now face decades in jail after being convicted on all charges in the case related to the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.Billions of dollars were stolen from the investment vehicle and spent on everything from high-end real e

A court in Vietnam sentenced a former communications minister to life in prison Saturday for receiving millions of dollars in bribes, as the hardline administration presses its anti-graft drive against once-powerful figures in the communist state.Nguyen Bac Son was charged alongside his then-deputy Truong Minh Tuan with receiving US$3.2 million in bribes to approve the 2015 purchase of a TV firm that would have lost state-run telecommunications firm Mobifone US$300 million.The two-week trial

Nearly 100 Rohingya appeared in a Myanmar court Wednesday after being arrested for trying to flee persecution, their lawyer said, as leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the UN's top court to deny allegations of a genocidal campaign against the ethnic minority.One-by-one, the weary detainees stepped down from a police van at the courthouse in the western Myanmar city of Pathein.Their crime was to leave their home townships without permission from authorities.Rohingya in Rakhine state live u

Vietnam on Tuesday jailed six people on various security and anti-state charges in three separate cases, in one of the harshest days of sentencing in the communist country where dissidence is routinely quashed.The one-party state has long jailed its critics, though a hardline leadership in charge since 2016 has ushered in an uptick in arrests and convictions of activists, dissidents and bloggers. On Tuesday six people were sentenced to jail in various trials across the country.The lo

A group of Myanmar satirists on Monday racked up a second prison sentence for a performance that criticised the military, a decision the artists said showed the judges were "puppets" of the military.The group of seven, known as the Peacock Generation, were arrested after performing "Thangyat", a Myanmar art similar to slam poetry, in April.Wearing military uniforms, they mocked the army through their fusion of poetry, comedy and music.But the authorities were unamused and

Malaysian ex-leader Najib Razak's most significant 1MDB trial begins Wednesday, centring on allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars linked to the state fund ended up in his bank account.Claims that Najib and his cronies pilfered massive sums from the fund and spent it on everything from real estate to artwork contributed to the defeat of his long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance.After losing power last year, Najib was arrested and hit with dozens of charges related to 1M

A Vietnamese-American man charged with "attempting to overthrow the state" will go on trial in Ho Chi Minh City on June 24, his family said, and could face the death penalty if found guilty.Michael Nguyen has been held for nearly a year in the one-party communist state, which has tightened its grip on power since a new administration came to office in 2016 and took a harder line on dissent of any kind.Nearly 130 prisoners of conscience are currently behind bars in the country, where

Reports that former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak allegedly paid a private consulting firm to monitor Chinese language newspapers and social media in the country has raised several issues and questions.Najib is currently on trial for seven charges including criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering totalling US$10.2 million linked to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) of which the disgraced ex-leader i

Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock election loss.The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of doll