The Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s petition to convert his prison sentence to house detention. The court clarified that although the royal decree exists, the issuance process did not involve consultation with the Pardons Board, rendering it unenforceable under the constitution.
The Malaysian High Court ruled against the 71-year-old former prime minister Najib Razak’s attempt to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house detention rather than in prison. The court stated that the cited additional order document has no legal effect.
Najib Razak, imprisoned since 2022 for corruption related to the 1MDB fund, received a royal pardon last year reducing his 12-year sentence to 6 years. However, he has contested the case by claiming that the late king issued a secret royal decree allowing him to serve his sentence under house detention. The government and Pardons Board have consistently denied knowledge of this, though the Attorney General confirmed the document exists this year.
The court noted that the king’s authority is constitutionally limited. Judge Alice Lok stated in the ruling that although the document’s existence is not disputed, the order cannot be enforced because it did not undergo consideration or consultation with the Pardons Board as required by the Malaysian constitution.
"While the king has discretionary power to grant pardons, that power is not without limits. Since this additional order was not reviewed or decided upon in a Pardons Board meeting, it is considered legally incomplete," the judge said.
This court ruling comes just four days before Najib’s most significant trial verdict scheduled for 26 December. This case is directly related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund. He faces four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering involving illegal transfers exceeding 2.2 billion ringgit (approximately 17 billion baht).
If convicted in this new case, Najib could face up to 20 years in prison for each offense, along with fines up to five times the amount of the damages. Najib continues to deny all charges, maintaining he was not involved in the corruption that caused global losses exceeding 4.5 billion U.S. dollars.