Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak has become the unlikely face of a new prison food campaign, after an animal rights group urged Kajang Prison to serve him and other inmates vegan meals.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to Kajang Prison Director Mohd Sharin bin Hj Sabtu, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said a vegan meals policy could help reduce costs, improve inmate health and promote “empathy and non-violence” inside one of Malaysia’s best-known prisons.

Malaysia’s prison rules do not prescribe a fixed menu, but a ration scale listing rice, vegetables and items such as chicken, fish, meat, tofu, eggs, fruit, bread, tea and coffee for inmates, according to the First Schedule of the Prisons Regulations 2000.

“Even former Prime Minister Najib Razak deserves humane, healthy meals, and so does every prisoner,” Jason Baker, president of Peta Asia, said in a statement.

“When prisoners eat meat, eggs, and dairy, they’re consuming the pain, fear, and suffering that animals endured on farms and in slaughterhouses. The only peaceful meal is a vegan one, and Peta urges Kajang Prison to do everything it can to instil non-violence in its inmates.”

On social media, the proposal drew the sort of sarcasm that has followed Najib since his imprisonment. One user joked that the former leader was unlikely to be eating ordinary prison food and was probably housed in a more comfortable “suite”.

Another user dismissed Peta’s reasoning as “nonsense”, but conceded that feeding inmates only rice and vegetables might at least “save taxpayers’ money”.