Malaysia Court Removes Last Roadblock for Najib Razak's Home Detention

A Malaysian court on Tuesday removed the final roadblock for jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak to finish his corruption sentence at his home under house arrest. Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after a court in Kuala Lumpur upheld his conviction tied to the multi-billion-dollar theft of state funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB. He received royal clemency in September, which allowed him to move home once he paid a court fine.

The Fine And Pushback

His political party paid the 50 million ringgit, equal to 12.3 million US dollars, allowing him to leave prison last Friday. However, he returned to jail hours later because the attorney general stopped the transfer to ask for legal clarifications. This move drew a public warning from the palace, which stated that King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar held the power to pardon and that questioning it meant defying a royal order. Najib appeared in court on Tuesday, and police later blocked the road leading to his Kuala Lumpur residence.

Sentence Details

His lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, confirmed that all matters were resolved so the former leader could stay at home until August 23, 2028. This house arrest only applies to his reduced six-year term from his first trial and excludes a separate 15-year sentence given last December for corruption and money laundering. Najib is appealing that second term, and if he fails, he might go back to jail after his house arrest finishes.

Context

Najib led the country from 2009 to 2018 and denies all accusations of wrongdoing, standing as the first former Malaysian leader jailed over the massive 1MDB financial scandal. The 1MDB affair caused global economic shockwaves and sparked official probes across the United States and multiple other nations.