A Malaysian court has delivered a significant blow to former Prime Minister Najib Razak, formally rejecting his legal bid to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest.
Court Rules Royal Order Invalid
The High Court ruled on Monday that a purported royal addendum, which Najib claimed allowed for his transfer to house arrest, was not valid and not issued in accordance with constitutional requirements. The order was said to have been issued by the nation's former king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
Najib's legal team immediately indicated they would appeal the verdict. The 72-year-old former leader is now set to serve the rest of his term in prison, with his scheduled release in August 2028. This date follows a decision last year by the Pardons Board to halve his original 12-year sentence.
The 1MDB Conviction and Ongoing Legal Battles
Najib Razak is currently imprisoned for his role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB state fund scandal, a massive corruption case that led to the downfall of his government in the 2018 general election. He was convicted in 2020 on charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering involving 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.
He began his sentence in August 2022 after exhausting his final appeals, becoming Malaysia's first former prime minister to be jailed. Throughout the proceedings, Najib has maintained his innocence, alleging he was misled by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, the alleged mastermind of the scandal.
In a separate but closely watched development, the High Court is set to rule this Friday on a second graft trial directly tying Najib to the wider 1MDB scandal. He faces:
- Four charges of abuse of power for obtaining over $700 million from 1MDB.
- Twenty-one counts of money laundering involving the same funds.
A guilty verdict could result in decades of additional prison time.
Legacy of a Financial Scandal
The 1MDB fund, established by Najib shortly after he took office in 2009, became the centre of one of the world's largest financial frauds. Investigators allege that at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered through complex international networks.
The stolen money allegedly financed Hollywood films, luxury real estate, a superyacht, and extravagant purchases of art and jewellery. Public fury over the scandal triggered the historic 2018 election defeat of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party that had governed Malaysia since independence in 1957.
Despite his imprisonment, Najib retains considerable influence within UMNO, which is now part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's unity government formed after the 2022 elections.
