Former Malaysia PM Najib to serve remaining jail term at home — if he pays US$12.26 million fine

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak will be allowed to serve his remaining jail term at home until Aug 23, 2028 subject to him paying a fine of RM50 million (US$12.26 million), the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday (Sep 18).

This comes after a conditional pardon granted by king Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar following Najib's appeal to the Federal Territories Pardons Board for house arrest. He is currently serving a six-year prison term.

The fine is part of his reduced sentence granted by the previous king in January 2024.

The decision has already drawn reactions from the country’s top leaders - with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim saying it does not change his government’s stance against corruption, while deputy prime minister and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) president Ahmad Zahid welcomed the conditional pardon.

The decision came after the board met on Friday, a week after it deferred consideration of Najib’s application at its Sep 11 meeting.

The meeting at the king’s official residence, Istana Negara, was presided over by the king. Attendees included the Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar, Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh and other members. 

The statement added that Najib “must comply” with the stipulated conditions. 

“Should he fail to comply with any of these conditions, the conditional pardon will be revoked, and he will be required to immediately serve the remainder of his sentence in prison,” it said. 

The issue of Najib’s pardon application has been closely watched. Late on Thursday night, documents purportedly signed by Sultan Iskandar and Yeoh circulated on social media, stating that Najib will serve the remainder of his sentence at home. 

But Yeoh denied the legitimacy of the documents, saying she did not sign them. 

"The Pardons Board has not met. Please do not share this fake document. My press secretary has made a report to the authorities," she wrote in a Facebook post in the early hours of Friday.

After the Sep 11 meeting, Yeoh had said she had expressed her views “honestly”, guided by her conscience and the national interest, local media reported. 

In a statement on Wednesday, she said the authority and final decision in such matters rest with the king. 

Anwar had also weighed in on the Pardons Board's earlier decision, saying that it was made based on the rule of law and should not be viewed through a personal lens. 

Currently in Kajang Prison, Najib was scheduled to complete his term only on Aug 23, 2028, after securing a partial royal pardon in January 2024 that halved his jail term and reduced his fine to RM50 million.

Najib was initially sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million in July 2020 on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power.

The charges involved the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.

Najib, 73, began serving his jail term in August 2022.

Even after the partial royal pardon, Najib had insisted that the then-King, Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, had issued an addendum order for him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

The High Court last year ruled that the addendum order was not enforceable because it had not been deliberated in the January 2024 Pardons Board meeting. The meeting was held one day before Sultan Abdullah ended his reign as Malaysia’s monarch. 

Najib then filed an appeal, but withdrew it in April this year. No reason was given in court documents seen by Malaysian news outlets.

Najib, who was Malaysia’s prime minister from 2009 to 2018, still has significant influence within UMNO and its Barisan Nasional coalition, which is part of Malaysia’s unity government along with Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and some Borneo-based parties.

Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said last year his client may return to politics if he is pardoned and allowed out of prison.

REACTIONS

Speaking later on Friday, Anwar said the Pardons Board’s decision does not weaken the government’s stance against graft and abuse of power.

He said all cases, including those involving Najib that are still ongoing, must proceed according to due process, local news outlet New Straits Times reported.

"This country will no longer take lightly any misconduct or abuse of power intended to enrich any leader or any member of the public. This is our position,” Anwar said.

"Ultimately, the Constitution provides for the absolute powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king), and I hope we accept this in good faith,” the prime minister said, as quoted by New Straits Times.

"Beyond that, I want to stress that the principle of the rule of law and our decision to take action in all corruption cases remain intact. This does not mean that the country should submit to acts of plunder and corruption," he said.

Meanwhile, UMNO president Zahid has welcomed the conditional pardon for Najib, describing it as “very meaningful” for the former prime minister and the party.

"UMNO expresses our profound gratitude to His Majesty, Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia," he said in a statement on Friday, as quoted by New Straits Times.

Zahid also said that UMNO has launched a nationwide donation drive to help Najib settle his RM50 million fine, although he did not provide details on how the collection of funds would be structured or carried out, local news site Malay Mail reported.

At UMNO’s annual general assembly last weekend, Zahid had repeatedly said he hoped for the best ahead of the pardons board meeting, and that the party was saddened by its decision to defer its consideration of Najib’s pardon application. 

“Nevertheless, we remain respectful and express our respect to Tuanku (the king),” Zahid said, as quoted by local media. 

Najib faces another lengthy jail term in a separate 1MDB-related case. 

The High Court in December 2025 sentenced him to 15 years in prison and fined him RM11.38 billion on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.2 billion misappropriated from 1MDB. The jail term was due to begin in 2028 after he finishes his current sentence. 

He has filed an appeal against the verdict and sentence, Reuters reported on Dec 30 last year.