Malaysian high court clears final hurdle for former Prime Minister Najib's transfer to house arrest

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A high court in Malaysia on Tuesday cleared all legal hurdles for the transfer of imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak to his home to serve the remainder of his graft sentence under house arrest, his lawyer said.

Najib has been behind bars since August 2022, when the Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld his graft conviction linked to a multibillion-dollar looting of the state investment fund 1MDB. In September, Najib was granted royal clemency, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest once he pays a court-imposed fine.

Last Friday, he left prison after his political party paid the 50 million ringgit ($12.3 million) fine but he was brought back hours later after the attorney general blocked the transfer, seeking legal clarifications.

The attorney general's request sparked a public rebuke from the palace, which said that King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar’s prerogative of pardon for Najib that allowed the house arrest was clear and must be respected. It said any attempts to challenge it would amount to defying the royal order.

Najib's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Tuesday all was settled for the former prime minister's transfer to house arrest at his Kuala Lumpur home, where he is to remain until Aug. 23, 2028.

Najib appeared in court on Tuesday; the transfer was expected to take place later in the day. Police later sealed off the road leading to his home.

“It’s a final relief, you know, great sigh to him because he has been waiting for this,” the lawyer said.

The house arrest covers only Najib's reduced, six-year sentence in his first trial for graft and not a separate, 15-year sentence handed down last December for corruption and money laundering. That sentence followed a second major trial tied to the 1MDB scandal.

Najib is also appealing that sentence, which he is to serve after the end of his first sentence. If his appeal fails, he could return to prison after his house arrest ends.

Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, has denied any wrongdoing. He is Malaysia’s first former leader to be imprisoned under a sentence related to the 1MDB scandal. It marked one of the world’s largest financial scandals, rippling across global markets and triggering investigations in the United States and other countries.