No homecoming for Malaysia’s ex-PM Najib as request for house arrest remains under review

KUALA LUMPUR – Despite rumours surrounding the possibility of an early release from jail if granted house arrest, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s appeal to the pardons board remains under review.Thus UMNO, the leading party in unity government ally Barisan Nasional, may have to wait awhile more before celebrating the return of its former president.On Sept 11, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor, said after a meeting that Najib’s application has been deferred.“His Majesty also consented to defer the pardon of Najib in the upcoming scheduled Pardon Board meeting,” said the Law Department of the Prime Minister’s Department in a statement on Sept 11.Najib, 73, was the country’s prime minister for nine years. He was arrested in July 2018 and charged with breach of trust and abuse of power in a case linked to Malaysia’s state fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).He was convicted by the court and, in August 2022, started serving a 12-year jail sentence for misappropriating RM42 million (S$13 million) of funds from SRC International, a former company under 1MDB.The jail sentence was halved in 2024 by the then Malaysian King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who chaired a Pardons Board meeting. Najib’s original fine of RM210 million was also reduced to RM50 million.Since then, Najib has been pursuing a legal bid to compel the government to confirm and execute an “addendum order”, which he claimed was also issued by Sultan Abdullah to the Pardons Board, and entitled him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.Late in 2025, the High Court ruled that the addendum was unenforceable because it had not been considered by the Pardons Board. Consequently, it was deemed unconstitutional, as royal prerogative must be exercised only on the board’s advice.And there is still the High Court ruling in December 2025 to abide by. Then, Najib was sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison after being found guilty in his second major 1MDB trial. He was also fined RM11.4 billion, in default of which he would serve another 10 years in prison. That sentence will run after Najib completes his jail term from the earlier case, which is scheduled to end in August 2028.Sign up for our weekly Asian Insider Malaysia Edition newsletter to make sense of the big stories in MalaysiaLu Wei Hoong is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times, specialising in transport and politics.