'Orange is not my colour, darling'.
When former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested, two questions came to mind: who will take care of his cat Kiky and why wasn't he wearing the 'famous' orange shirt?The 64-year-old arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex on Wednesday in a dark blue blazer and a white shirt, and Malaysians soon questioned why he wasn't in the orange 'Lokap SPRM' T-shirt that previous Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) suspects were made to wear.
As it turns out, there's a perfectly good explanation for that.
(And no, it's not because they can't find a shirt that fits him.)
What Is The T-Shirt For Ah, Actually?
Let's just get this out of the way: not everyone who gets detained by the MACC has to wear the orange 'Lokap SPRM' T-shirt.According to The Star Online, only those who are being remanded by the MACC are required to wear the not-so-flattering uniform.
As the authorities previously applied for a remand on Parti Warisan Sabah chief Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and former Felda chairman Tan Sri Isa Samad for further questioning, they were required to wear the T-shirt.
When then Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was brought to court to be charged for a corruption trial, he wasn't asked to wear the shirt because, well, he wasn't remanded.
ALSO READ: Malaysian Netizens React To Former PM Najib Razak's Arrest
Those who are remanded can also be handcuffed, depending on the person's flee-and-flight risk.
So, if that baju merah fella who fled to Indonesia and taunted the police to catch him but in the end he got caught because 'clever clever squirrel jump, one day fall to the ground also' gets questioned by the MACC, he would need to wear seven layers of the orange T-shirt and a handcuff.
But Najib Was Arrested, Right?
Yes, he was, but there's a difference between 'arrested' and 'remanded', you see.When a suspect is remanded by the MACC, it means that the authorities require more time to interrogate the person or to gather more evidence to press charges.
According to the Malaysian Bar, a person can be remanded up to 14 days, depending on the severity of the crime.
In the case of our former Prime Minister, he was held overnight to be charged the next day, so he was technically not remanded by the authorities, hence there was no orange shirt for him.
But We Want To See Him In The Orange Shirt, Can Ah?
Can...if you know Photoshop. To actually remand a suspect, the authorities have to go through a lot of paperwork.They would have to first determine how long they want to remand the suspect for and provide a legit reason for that.
Then, they would have to bring the suspect to the Magistrate Court to make their case.
The magistrate would then make a decision on whether to allow the authorities to remand the suspect for a specific amount of time.
Unless the authorities find more damning evidence and they need to bring Najib in for another round of intense questioning that will last for days, then *maybe* we'll get to see him in the orange shirt.
Also, it's important to note that if a suspect is remanded, it doesn't mean that he or she has been convicted of a criminal offence.
So, eventhough he was brought to court, our former Prime Minister is innocent unless proven guilty.