A Malaysian court has ordered that jailed former prime minister Najib Razak be moved from prison to his own home and held there under house arrest. The court issued the new order on Tuesday, rejecting the attorney general’s objection to carrying out an earlier ruling.
Najib, 73, is serving a prison sentence for embezzling large sums from the state investment fund 1MDB. In September a decision was taken to reduce his sentence and grant him a conditional pardon. Under that decision, he was to be allowed to spend the rest of his prison term under house arrest at his home once he paid a fine of $12 million.
Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), paid the full amount of the fine last Friday. Even so, the attorney general blocked the process of moving him from prison to his home, citing legal complications.
After hearing Najib’s lawyers and government prosecutors, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Aslam Zainuddin issued the new order. He said that under the pardon, Najib must serve the remainder of his reduced six-year sentence under house arrest at home.
Najib’s lead lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, told reporters that he was expected to be taken from prison to his home by late Tuesday afternoon.
On Saturday, Malaysia’s king had accused the attorney general of showing contempt for a royal order by delaying Najib’s move home. The king said there had been no ambiguity in the decision to pardon him.
Under Malaysia’s constitutional system, the rulers of nine of the country’s states take turns as king, each elected for a five-year term. These rulers, from Islamic royal houses centuries old, play an important part in the country’s politics and society.
In July 2020 Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first case arising from the 1MDB corruption scandal. The pardons board later cut the sentence to six years. He also faces a further 15-year prison sentence in another 1MDB-related case, which is now under appeal.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report