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

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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.

“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

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.

The report claimed Ragad had “voluntarily removed all medications” attached to Taib – believed to have been under intensive care – before wheeling him out to a waiting luxury multipurpose vehicle and taking him away.

Taib’s children are currently suing Ragad over the transfer of shares owned by their father to her name in the public-listed Cahaya Mata Sarawak, a wealthy conglomerate founded by the ex-governor with interests ranging from construction to infrastructure development and IT.

His sons, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman and Mahmud Abu Bekir, are challenging the authenticity of Taib’s signature on a document related to the share transfer, and seeking a court order to stop the process.

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Taib married a 29-year-old Ragad in 2010, a year after his Polish-born first wife Laila died of cancer at 68.

His political opponents and rights activists have accused Taib of pillaging Sarawak’s natural resources to enrich himself and his family, feeding a political elite which scooped up major infrastructure projects and state-sanctioned investments he approved over his tenure.

He took over the chief ministership from his uncle, Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, who Taib purged from his ruling Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu – along with his uncle’s loyalists – after they had a falling-out.

Opponents say Taib and his family had allegedly amassed billions of dollars in wealth and assets, while abusing his powers to silence critics.



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