Crime18 September, 20262 min read
Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Places Najib Abdul Razak Under House Arrest After Conditional Pardon
King grants Najib conditional pardon to serve remainder of jail term under house arrest. House arrest lasts until August 23, 2028, contingent on paying a 50 million RM fine.
House arrest granted
Malaysia’s king, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail ibn Sultan Iskandar, approved a conditional pardon allowing former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to serve the remainder of his imprisonment under house arrest until August 23, 2028. The pardon was granted after the 64th meeting of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya at Istana Negara, according to Bernama as cited by Anadolu Ajansı.
The conditional pardon required Najib to pay a fine of 50 million ringgit, and lawyers from the Office of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the royal pardon was conditional on that payment. Najib, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction in a corruption case involving SRC International, a former unit of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Conditions and denials
The prime minister’s legal department said the king agreed to grant Najib Razak a conditional royal pardon, allowing him to complete the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028. The condition attached to the clemency was a fine of 50 million ringgit, and the statement said Najib “must comply with all set conditions” or the conditional pardon would be automatically revoked.
Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing, and the Al-Jazeera Net account says he has denied any wrongdoing and described himself as a scapegoat in a cross-border scheme in which up to $4.5 billion was embezzled, according to American investigators cited by Reuters. Reuters also described Najib as a divisive figure who has lodged an appeal in a separate 1MDB-related case in December last year, where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering.
Political fallout
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged the public to accept the king’s decision, saying, “I want to stress that the principle of the rule of law remains intact.” Anwar also said his commitment to taking action against corruption was “not affected,” and the AP report said the Home Ministry had not released details of whether the house arrest would apply to a separate sentence.
“I want to stress that the principle of the rule of law remains intact.”
Opposition and political figures framed the clemency as a test for governance, with Rafizi Ramli urging the government to explain the full conditions of Najib’s house arrest to address “intense public disappointment” over the 1MDB scandal. UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said a collection fund would be launched so party members and supporters could help Najib pay the 50 million ringgit fine tied to his house arrest, describing the development as “immense significance” for Najib and the UMNO family.