Malaysia’s attorney general has temporarily suspended the move of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to house arrest, after his party paid a 50 million ringgit ($12.3 million) fine, according to Al Jazeera. The planned transfer was linked to a conditional pardon, and its status remains unclear.
According to DW, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Najib’s party, paid the fine after collecting donations from supporters. Al Jazeera reported that the party reportedly used crowdfunding to cover the fine, as his bank accounts have been frozen. Only Al Jazeera reports the crowdfunding detail, and a second source has not confirmed it.
DW reported that King Sultan Ibrahim granted Najib a conditional pardon in September. The pardon allows him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, subject to payment of the fine.
According to Al Jazeera, Najib’s lawyer, Farhan Shafee, said he had been given the order and would deliver it to Kajang prison, and that house arrest could start Friday. The attorney general’s chambers said Najib’s current detention status would be maintained while legal questions about the conditional pardon are clarified.
DW reported that AFP saw Najib in a car driving away on Friday and that police were stationed at his home. A later attorney general statement, relayed by Reuters, said the transfer was suspended. The AFP report is not independently confirmed, and Najib’s current location is unverified.
Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, has been held in jail since 2022 after his conviction for corruption and embezzlement linked to 1MDB, according to Al Jazeera. Investigators say about $4.5bn was stolen from the state fund, with more than $1bn of it linked to Najib, Al Jazeera reported.
DW reported that the house arrest applies only to Najib’s reduced six-year sentence in the first trial. It does not cover a separate 15-year sentence imposed in December 2025 in a second 1MDB trial, which he is appealing.
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has publicly raised concerns about the pardon. McBride also said there has been speculation that Anwar helped it go through behind the scenes under pressure from Najib’s party. DW reported that UMNO is part of the government that came to power in 2022, and that Najib still enjoys political support and influence in the party.
The attorney general must clarify the legal questions on the conditional pardon before any transfer proceeds. Al Jazeera says Najib is due back in jail when house arrest ends in 2028. DW says he could return after August 23, 2028, if he loses his appeal of the second-trial conviction.
The sources do not include an official date for his release or transfer, or any response from Shafee or Najib’s team to the suspension. They also lack comment from the government or the king’s office on the pardon conditions. Fine figures differ between sources, with Al Jazeera giving $2.5bn and DW giving 11.4 billion ringgit for the 15-year sentence, and the sources do not reconcile them. The Japan Times account is limited to a headline and short excerpt.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.