Malaysian court rejects Najib bid to serve 1MDB sentence under house arrest
By DL News
Published
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Najib, who has been in jail since August 2022 over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, had asked the Kuala Lumpur High Court to compel authorities to recognise and enforce what he said was a royal order.
A Malaysian court has thrown out former prime minister Najib Razak’s attempt to serve the rest of his prison term at home, ruling that a royal directive he relied on was not legally valid.
Najib, who has been in jail since August 2022 over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, had asked the Kuala Lumpur High Court to compel authorities to recognise and enforce what he said was a royal order allowing him to move to house arrest as part of a partial pardon granted last year.
Judge Alice Loke confirmed that such a document existed, but found it could not take effect because it had not been issued in line with constitutional procedure. She said the then-king should have acted on the advice of the Federal Territories Pardons Board before making any order permitting house arrest.
Without that mandatory consultation, the directive could not confer a lawful entitlement on Najib to leave prison, the court held.
The ruling comes just days before a separate court is due to deliver judgment on Friday in what is seen as Najib’s most significant remaining 1MDB-related trial.
Najib, who was ousted from office in 2018 amid public anger over the scandal, has consistently denied wrongdoing in all the charges brought against him.
