Malaysian court rejects ex-prime minister’s bid to serve remainder of sentence under house arrest

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian court Monday rejected former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bid to serve the remainder of his graft sentence under house arrest.

The High Court ruled that a rare royal order issued by the nation’s former king was not valid as it wasn’t made in accordance with constitutional requirements.

Najib’s lawyer told the court they plan to appeal the verdict.

The 72-year-old former prime minister will serve the remainder of his term in prison, scheduled to end in August 2028 after the Pardons Board cut the 12-year sentence by half last year.

Najib is serving time after being convicted in a trial linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state fund that toppled his government in 2018. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2020 for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) channeled into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.

He began his sentence in August 2022 after losing his final appeal, becoming Malaysia’s first former leader to be jailed.

He filed an application in April 2024, saying he had information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29, 2024, chaired by Sultan Abdullah, that shortened his punishment and sharply cut a fine.

While there was no dispute over the existence of the addendum order, Judge Alice Loke said the house arrest wasn’t raised nor discussed at the Jan. 29 pardons board meeting. The king’s prerogative of mercy must be carried out based on the advice of the pardons board under the constitution and cannot be made independently as it would “invite arbitrary decision,” she said.

The house arrest therefore, was “not a valid order” she ruled.

Najib didn’t show much emotion, and later smiled when his lawyer described the ruling as “shocking” after the judge left the courtroom.

His lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said Najib was disappointed. He said the ruling had diluted the powers of the king, and would argue the matter in the appeal.

The failure to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest came just days ahead of another major court ruling for Najib.

The former leader will find out on Friday if he is acquitted or convicted in a second graft trial that ties him directly to the 1MDB scandal. The High Court will rule on four charges of abuse of power to obtain over $700 million from 1MDB that went into Najib’s bank accounts, and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.

If found guilty, Najib faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of abuse of power and up to five years for each of the money laundering charges. Najib denies wrongdoing, alleging that Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho duped him. Low, thought to be the mastermind of the scandal, remains at large.

Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries.

The funds were allegedly used to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry.

A national outrage over the 1MDB scandal led to the historic 2018 election defeat of the party that had governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957.

Despite his conviction, Najib still holds clout in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is now part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ’s unity government that took power after the 2022 elections.