As Reuters reported on 28 July 2020, former Prime Minister Najib Razak was convicted of seven charges, among them corruption, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, warns that this by no means signals the end of the 1MDB state fund corruption saga:‚  "While the resounding conviction is a first in Malaysia (as no high-ranking politician, incumbent or not, has ever been convicted before), that is not the end of the matter. First, because Razak immediately appealed and was thus spared spending even a day in prison, and secondly because this was just the first case to be brought against him, the so-called SRH case. All in all, he faces a total of 42 criminal charges." Thomas Muller continues: "It remains to be seen whether the new government (which depends on support from Razak"s party, UMNO) will interfere or if rumored snap elections could change the schedule. The UMNO announced that it would pull out of the coalition, but continue to support it nonetheless (Benar News, 30 July 2020). Maybe to distract media attention away from Razak"s conviction and as a useful preparation for upcoming snap elections, former Finance Minister and leading opposition politician Lim Guan Eng has been arrested for alleged corruption (Benar News, 6 August 2020)." Thomas Muller adds: "Many Christians and other minorities feel excluded from being fully respected citizens of Malaysia, as has been the case for decades under UMNO rule, and are not very hopeful that this will change in the short term, even if snap elections are called."