New database tracks shifting outcomes of Malaysia’s political corruption cases

An AI-powered database tracking corruption cases against Malaysia’s politicians was independently launched on Friday, putting fresh scrutiny on the status and outcomes of the country’s biggest graft prosecutions across administrations.The Prosecutorial Accountability Watch (PAW), built by civil society group Projek SAMA and hosted with news outlet Malaysiakini, tracks 33 high-profile cases involving current and former elected representatives – from ex-prime minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB-linked prosecutions to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s Yayasan Akalbudi case and other politicians across government and opposition blocs.The launch comes as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government faces pressure to deliver a long-promised reform: separating the attorney general’s role as government legal adviser from the public prosecutor’s power to start, conduct and drop criminal cases. Reformers say this conflict has long fuelled suspicion over politically sensitive prosecutions.