Former Malaysia PM Najib Razak loses house arrest bid in High Court
The royal addendum order for Najib to serve house arrest is not valid because it was not deliberated on at the Pardons Board meeting in January last year, the judge ruled.
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KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday (Dec 22) rejected former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bid to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
The ruling means the 72-year-old will continue serving his jail term at Selangor’s Kajang Prison.
Justice Alice Loke’s decision marks the latest development in Najib’s legal bid for house arrest that began in April 2024. The defence has indicated it will file an appeal.
The judge said the king must exercise his power and functions in accordance with the provisions of the federal constitution.
“The exercise of the prerogative of power of mercy is no exception. It must be exercised within the legal framework providing for safeguards and limits in the constitution,” she said.
She said that the royal addendum order's existence was not in dispute. But it was not deliberated on or decided at the 61st Pardons Board meeting in January last year when the board agreed to reduce Najib’s sentence.
The order did not comply with Article 42 of Malaysia’s federal constitution, which grants the king and state rulers or governors the power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites for offences, the judge added.
“Consequently, it is not a valid order. The respondents have no power and no duty to obey or enforce it. Conversely the applicant has no right to the relief of mandamus. In the circumstance, the judicial review application is therefore dismissed,” she said.
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Najib began his jail term in August 2022 after he was found guilty of three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power by the High Court in July 2020.
The charges involved the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad – the state investment fund Najib founded in 2009 – into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015. Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018.
He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million, but Malaysia’s then-king Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah reduced it to six years’ jail and an RM50 million fine just before stepping down on Jan 30, 2024. The Pardons Board, headed by the king, announced the sentence reduction on Feb 2 last year.
On Monday, hundreds of people including supporters from Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party gathered outside the court in solidarity with the former prime minister.
CLAIM OF ADDENDUM ORDER
Najib mounted a legal bid for home detention in April last year following the Pardons Board decision to halve his prison sentence, insisting that the board’s decision was accompanied by an addendum order issued by the king that allowed him to serve the remainder of his jail term at home.
The case was initially dismissed by the High Court in July last year before being overturned by an appeals court in a 2-1 split decision in January this year. The Federal Court, Malaysia’s top tribunal, later upheld the appeal court’s decision, with the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered to hear the case.
The High Court decision had earlier been scheduled for Jan 5 but last month, the court allowed a request from Najib’s lawyers to move the date forward to Dec 22.
On Monday, Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client was disappointed by the decision.
Shafee asserted there were several issues that were not analysed properly by the judge. “Today’s decision seems to suggest that every decision pertaining to a pardon must be made within the pardons board. That has taken away what the king and Malay rulers have enjoyed on the full discretion of matters of pardon,” he said.
The house arrest case has stirred intrigue in Malaysia, with multiple government authorities, including members of the pardons board, for months denying knowledge of a royal document although the former king's office confirmed it had been issued.
Najib and the ex-king’s palace had said that the document exists, with Najib’s legal team saying that it has been ignored by the authorities.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in January said that the government did not conceal any document, adding that it was sent to the Attorney General and not to him or any other member of the Pardons Board.
Separately, the court is also set to deliver its verdict for another case involving Najib later this week (Dec 26). He faces four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering over RM2.2 billion in illegal transfers from 1MDB. Najib has denied the charges.
Najib’s legal trajectory remains closely followed in Malaysia, where the former leader – who is said to harbour hopes of a political resurgence – continues to polarise public opinion. Najib, a former UMNO president, retains significant influence in the party, which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling coalition.
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