Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed in his attempt to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest after the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that he must continue his incarceration at Kajang Prison. The decision, delivered on December 22, marked a significant setback for Najib’s legal strategy to alter the terms of his punishment.
High Court judge Datuk Alice Loke Yee Ching found that the alleged addendum issued by the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which Najib claimed allowed him to be placed under house arrest, was legally invalid and could not be enforced. The court determined that the purported order did not comply with the requirements set out in Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, which governs the exercise of royal powers of pardon.
According to the ruling, the addendum was neither deliberated nor approved during the 61st Pardons Board meeting, a procedural step required under the Constitution. As a result, the court concluded that the document carried no legal effect, rendering Najib’s application unsustainable in law.
Najib has been imprisoned since mid-2022 following his conviction in the SRC International case involving RM42 million. His original 12-year sentence was later reduced to six years after a Pardons Board decision chaired by the former king. However, Najib maintained that a separate royal directive had been issued alongside the sentence reduction, converting his remaining jail term into house arrest. On that basis, he sought to compel the government to acknowledge and enforce the alleged directive.
For several months, government authorities denied having any record of such an addendum. While confirmation later emerged that a royal document had indeed been issued, the High Court’s decision clarified that its legal standing depended on strict constitutional compliance, which the court found to be absent.
The ruling arrives at a critical moment for Najib, as it precedes a highly anticipated judgment in his largest remaining trial linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. That case, involving allegations that more than RM2 billion entered his personal bank accounts, is expected to be decided within days. Any outcome favourable to Najib would likely trigger public scrutiny, particularly given the current administration’s strong anti-corruption stance.
Najib’s defence team has previously indicated that the house arrest application was separate from the 1MDB proceedings and would not influence the court’s consideration of those charges. Nevertheless, the High Court’s rejection of his bid underscores the legal and political challenges still facing the former leader as he continues to contest multiple cases tied to one of Malaysia’s most significant financial scandals.
FlyingBird (aicashflow7@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.