Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has branded BN MPs as hypocrites for insisting on supporting Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the grounds that he has not been convicted of any crime.

Mahathir said the component parties in BN, including Umno, MCA and others know very well that Najib cannot be convicted of any crime because efforts have been made to ensure his alleged wrongdoing will not go to court.

"Their excuse of accepting Najib as prime minister because he was not found guilty is baseless.

"They are actually lying to themselves and the people. They are hypocrites. They know that prosecutors blocking the legal process is wrong.

"It is unfortunate that Malaysia has hypocritical MPs and community leaders who stand with Najib to make his lie a success," said Mahathir in a blog posting today.

Mahathir claimed there was plenty of evidence against Najib, such as the RM2.6 billion in the prime minister’s personal bank accounts on top of at least another RM42 million from state-owned SRC International as well as the 1MDB investigation by the US Department of Justice.

He added that former ministers Muhyiddin Yassin and Husni Hanadzlah have also raised similar issues.

“Actually, they (BN MPs) know that the accusation against Najib have basis and are true.

“They also know why Najib is not found guilty because he abused his power to block the legal process and changed the public prosecutor who will reject all charges against him.

“If the legal process were to proceed, the public prosecutor would have brought the case to court and a trial would be held,” said Mahathir.

The former prime minister claimed that Najib was likely to be found guilty based on the evidence.

“But the public prosecutor hid the reports so that Najib’s case will not be heard in court.

“Instead, the public prosecutor acted like the judge and decided that there is no case against Najib based on the reports he received.

“What is clear is Najib was not found not guilty by the courts but that a trial could not be held as it was blocked by the public prosecutor,” he said.

The prime minister had denied any wrongdoing or taking public funds for personal gain.

Najib had also accused Mahathir of trying to bring him down in order to install his son Mukhriz Mahathir as prime minister, which the latter denies.