Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s lawyer said Wednesday he had received no word on a planned RM50 million (S$15.7 million) payment tied to a reported conditional pardon order for house arrest.
At Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, lead defense counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters: “Not today, I haven’t heard anything about it. Not yet.” The Star/Asia News Network reported that the fine would not be paid Nov. 4; Shafee’s words themselves conveyed that he had no information about a payment.
The Star/Asia News Network cited unnamed sources who said representatives would pay the fine. Another defense lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, told reporters the team had received no instructions and he was unsure of the payment’s status, the outlet reported.
Najib’s house-arrest prospect rests on a reported conditional pardon order from Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia. The Star/Asia News Network said an account published Sept. 18 described the order as allowing Najib to serve the balance of his sentence at home through Aug. 23, 2028, if he pays the fine.
Malaysia’s Pardons Board reduced the fine from RM210 million to RM50 million on Jan. 29, 2024, and cut Najib’s prison term from 12 years to six. The High Court had sentenced him in July 2020 to 12 years in prison and fined him RM210 million after convicting him on seven charges involving RM42 million in SRC International funds. The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment in December 2021, followed by the Federal Court in August 2022.
After the pardon was reported, UMNO launched the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund to raise the RM50 million, The Star/Asia News Network reported. The outlet said Najib’s personal and family assets remained frozen. On Sept. 25, Shafee said Najib did not have the funds needed to secure house arrest.
