Malaysian Court Clears Way for Najib Razak to Serve Sentence at Home

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court cleared the way on Tuesday for jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to be transferred to house arrest, after the attorney-general disputed an earlier directive. Najib, 73, was jailed for his role in one of the largest global plunders of a sovereign wealth fund, the now-defunct 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He was granted a conditional pardon in September, allowing him to serve out the rest of his sentence at home provided that he paid a $12 million fine. His political party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), paid the fine on Friday, but the attorney-general blocked Najib's transfer on legal grounds. "In accordance with the order of conditional pardon, the accused shall serve the remainder of the reduced sentence of six years' imprisonment under house arrest," Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Aslam Zainuddin said. He issued the new order after meeting defence lawyers and public prosecutors. Defence lawyer Shafee Abdulla told reporters Najib was expected to be transferred to house arrest later on Tuesday. Malaysia's king warned on Saturday that the attorney-general risked denying a royal order by delaying Najib's transfer, adding that there was no ambiguity about the pardon he was granted. Malaysia has a unique constitutional monarchy system where nine state rulers who hail from centuries-old Islamic royalty take turns ruling every five years. The monarchy has been a stabilising institution in Malaysian society and politics. Najib was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2020 in a first trial over vast sums of money siphoned from a former 1MDB subsidiary. A pardons board later halved the term and reduced his fine. Najib was also later sentenced to another 15 years in a separate trial linked to the 1MDB scandal, against which he has also lodged an appeal.