Malaysia’s palace said the conditions for former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest have been met, as legal questions delay the order’s implementation.
In a statement Saturday, Istana Negara said Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar considers the conditional pardon order clear. The palace said the Federal Territories Pardons Board reviewed Najib’s petition at a Sept. 18 meeting under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution. The Federal Territories minister and attorney general also attended, it said.
Istana Negara said the terms made home detention conditional on payment of the RM50 million fine and that the pardon did not affect Najib’s other cases. It added that all conditions attached to the order had been fulfilled.
Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, said Nov. 6 that Umno deposited the RM50 million with the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry. Shafee also said the High Court ordered Najib to serve the balance of his sentence at home and that documents would be sent to Kajang Prison.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) later sought a delay while it reviewed the order’s legal effect. It is seeking to establish whether payment met only the fine condition while Najib’s prison term continued, or meant his sentence in the SRC International case was complete. The AGC had earlier paused Najib’s planned transfer to house arrest for legal review.
Najib was convicted in 2020 in a case involving RM42 million tied to SRC International, with the counts covering misuse of authority, breach of trust and money laundering. The High Court imposed a 12-year prison term and a RM210 million fine. In January 2024, the Federal Territories Pardons Board reduced the sentence to six years and the fine to RM50 million. The Sept. 18 order sets the house-arrest period through Aug. 23, 2028, subject to its conditions.
