KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, currently serving a reduced sentence for corruption, has filed an unexpected application seeking to complete rest of his prison term under house arrest.
The application, stated that during a pardon’s board meeting on January 29, the then-king Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an order to halve Najib’s 12-year jail term and significantly reduce his fine, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence at home.
Najib’s plea for the government to verify and implement this alleged order was scheduled for a hearing on Thursday but has been postponed until April 17.
Sultan Abdullah, who comes from Najib’s hometown of Pahang, concluded his reign on January 30 as part of Malaysia’s rotational monarchy system, with a new king assuming office the following day.
Having served less than two years of his sentence, which was supposed to end on August 23, 2028, after the commutation, Najib was convicted in a corruption case related to the misappropriation of billions from the state fund 1MDB. In his plea, he accused the pardons board, home minister, and attorney-general, among others, of deliberately concealing the sultan’s order in his application.
However, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has stated that he has no knowledge of such an order, clarifying that he was not a member of the pardons board. The other entities named in Najib’s application were not immediately available for comment.
Najib established the 1MDB fund shortly after assuming office in 2009, but it became embroiled in scandal when investigators uncovered billions stolen and laundered through various channels, including Hollywood investments and extravagant purchases, allegedly linked to Najib and his associates. Despite the outrage leading to his party’s defeat in the 2018 elections, Najib remains influential within the United Malays National Organization, which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government since the 2022 elections.
Maintaining his innocence, Najib blamed Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho for deceiving him, with Low believed to be the mastermind behind the scandal and currently at large.
Meanwhile, Najib faces a separate trial over graft charges related to the 1MDB scandal, which is ongoing.
