Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak remains in Kajang Prison after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) on Friday (6 November) called for his house arrest to be temporarily suspended, citing “complex legal questions” over the interpretation of his conditional royal pardon.
Earlier on Friday, his party UMNO said it had paid the RM50 million (US$12.3 million) fine required under the pardon, after a public crowdfunding campaign reached its target, and the High Court issued orders allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. His lawyers said they had obtained the papers to transfer him out of jail.
Najib was seen leaving Kajang Prison on Friday; Transport Minister Anthony Loke said he had been told Najib was attending a dental appointment scheduled for that day. His residence at Jalan Langgak Duta had been gazetted as a prison under the Prison Act, a step towards house arrest, and police had cordoned off the road to his home before dismantling the cordon at around 7pm.
The AGC said the question is whether paying the fine means Najib must serve the rest of his SRC International sentence under house arrest until 23 August 2028, or whether the sentence should be considered completed. It also affects his separate 1MDB sentence, which is to start only after the SRC sentence is completed. The AGC called the situation “unprecedented” and said “clear and definitive legal clarification must be obtained” before any further steps, and that his detention status should stay at his “existing place of detention”.
His lawyers (Shafee & Co) challenged the AGC statement three hours later, saying there was “no lawful reason” for him to remain in prison “a moment longer” and demanding his immediate release into house arrest, calling the statement a “disregard” of the King’s order.
Najib, 73, was prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and has been in jail since 2022. He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million after being convicted of seven charges involving RM42 million belonging to SRC International, a former subsidiary of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). In 2024 the Pardons Board halved his prison term to six years and cut the fine to RM50 million. In September 2026, King Sultan Ibrahim granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder under house arrest until August 2028, provided he paid the fine. Najib was also convicted in a separate 1MDB case in December 2025 and sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined US$2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering; he has appealed, and a High Court application to stay that sentence was rejected on 14 October.
Source: Channel News Asia
