King Sultan Ibrahim of Malaysia has postponed the reconsideration of former Prime Minister Najib Razak's new pardon request. Najib is currently serving a prison sentence for corruption related to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. The matter will be brought back for review at the next Pardons Board meeting.
The Legal Affairs Division of the Malaysian Prime Minister's Office announced today (11 Sep) that King Sultan Ibrahim, who chairs the Pardons Board, has granted royal permission to defer Najib's request to the next meeting, but no date has been specified for when this will take place.
At the latest meeting, the King also granted pardons and released 65 prisoners. Those who are non-Malaysian nationals must be repatriated to their home countries within six months of release.
Najib, aged 73, served as Malaysia's prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and began serving his prison sentence in August 2022 after the Malaysian Supreme Court upheld his conviction for corruption involving SRC International, a 1MDB subsidiary. The case concerned 42 million ringgit (approximately 42 million baht) transferred from SRC International to his personal bank accounts.
Originally, Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit on seven counts, including abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering. In February 2024, the Pardons Board, chaired by former King Sultan Abdullah, reduced his prison term to 6 years and his fine to 50 million ringgit, setting his release date for August 2028.
Earlier reports indicated that Najib sought to have his imprisonment converted to house arrest by the Pardons Board. However, the Malaysian High Court ruled that an additional order purportedly allowing house arrest was invalid because it was not reviewed by the Pardons Board at its January 2024 meeting. Najib withdrew his appeal on this matter in April.
Besides the SRC International sentence, Najib faces an additional 15-year prison term in another 1MDB case. In December 2025, the High Court convicted him on 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering involving 2.2 billion ringgit embezzled from 1MDB and imposed a fine of 11.38 billion ringgit. Najib has filed an appeal against this judgment and penalty.
Despite being imprisoned, Najib remains an influential and divisive figure in Malaysian politics, especially within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's ruling coalition.
The pardon issue has heightened tensions between UMNO and Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. PH has stated that individuals convicted of corruption or abuse of power should serve their full sentences, emphasizing the importance of public confidence in Malaysia's reform and anti-corruption efforts.
UMNO responded by saying such statements could be perceived as questioning the royal prerogative of pardon guaranteed under Section 42(1) of the Federal Constitution. The party emphasized it would not direct or demand any specific outcome and urged all parties to respect decisions made through lawful processes.
This latest postponement leaves Najib's future uncertain, while the next decision could significantly affect both his legal status and the political dynamics within Malaysia's ruling coalition.
/sourceCNA/New Straits Times/Reuters