Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak Granted House Arrest After Royal Pardon

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was jailed for corruption, has been granted permission to transfer to house arrest. This decision comes after a royal pardon and his political party's payment of a $12 million fine.

Najib's lawyer, Farhan Shafee, confirmed that the order has been received and will be delivered to Kajang prison immediately. Najib has been incarcerated since 2022, and his house arrest is expected to commence on Friday.

Highlights

• Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is moving to house arrest following a royal pardon.
• His party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), raised the $12 million fine through crowdfunding due to his frozen bank accounts.
• Najib was convicted in 2022 for corruption and embezzlement of funds related to 1MDB, a state investment fund he co-founded while in power from 2009-2018.
• Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim approved the pardon in September, allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
• This decision is anticipated to cause significant political ripples in Malaysia.

Details

Najib Razak was convicted on charges of corruption and embezzling billions of dollars from 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), a state fund. He denies all wrongdoing, claiming he was unfairly blamed for a highly complex global fraud scheme. Investigators allege that approximately $4.5 billion was stolen from the 1MDB fund, with over $1 billion linked to Najib.

In a separate 1MDB trial, Najib was also convicted of money laundering and abuse of power, receiving a 15-year prison sentence and a $2.5 billion fine. His lawyers appealed this verdict, requesting a halt to the jail term and fines, citing poor health and inability to pay. However, a judge rejected this request in September.

According to Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, Najib is expected to return to jail to serve this second sentence once his house arrest concludes in 2028. However, it remains unclear whether this will actually happen at that stage.

Why it matters

This decision could lead to significant political upheaval in Malaysia. Despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim publicly expressing concerns about the pardon in his capacity as the country's anti-corruption figurehead, there are speculations that he may have, behind the scenes, facilitated the pardon due to pressure from Najib's party. The ruling also raises questions about how current political dynamics in Malaysia influence royal pardon processes.