Kuala Lumpur – Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak lost a bid to have his jail term changed to house arrest on Monday, a setback ahead of a separate verdict this week tied to the country’s 1MDB scandal.
Najib, 72, is serving a six-year jail term for corruption linked to the plunder of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which sparked probes in several countries.
His lawyers had argued that the purported existence of an order by Malaysia’s former king, called a “royal addendum”, granted him permission to serve the rest of his current sentence at home.
However, Judge Alice Loke Yee Ching disagreed, saying that the royal addendum was not a valid order.
Therefore, “the court cannot issue an… order to direct a house arrest”, Loke told the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
“There is no legal provision for house arrest in Malaysia,” she said. “The judicial review is dismissed.”
Dressed in a grey suit and white shirt, the former leader reacted with disappointment as Loke handed down the verdict.
His lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told reporters after the hearing that Najib would appeal against the verdict and that the former premier was “very disappointed with the decision”.
Najib was originally sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment in July 2020 in a first trial involving some 42 million ringgit ($9.9 million at the time), siphoned from a former 1MDB subsidiary called SRC International Sdn Bhd.
The term was later halved by a pardons board.
Next verdict
He faces another verdict this week in a separate trial linked to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in 2018 elections.
Friday’s verdict is seen as the main case against Najib. He faces four counts of abuse of power to obtain some 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million) from 1MDB funds, as well as 21 counts of money laundering.
Prosecutors say Najib abused his position as then prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move large amounts of money from the fund to his personal account more than a decade ago.
The prosecution presented bank records, documents and testimony from more than 50 witnesses. Defence lawyers blamed Najib’s close associate, the shadowy fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
Low, who is on the run, is seen as the mastermind behind the scheme to plunder Malaysia’s investment vehicle and spend the proceeds on everything from high-end real estate, a private jet and a yacht to pricey art, including a Monet and a Van Gogh.
Najib faces a lengthy extension to his current sentence if convicted of the separate charges on Friday. It would also be another blow to his lingering influence within Malaysia’s oldest political party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
Each count of abuse of power is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to five times the amount of the bribe.
The allegations that stolen funds were used for extravagant purchases played a major role in voters ousting Najib and the long-ruling UMNO party in 2018.
Najib has apologised for the 1MDB scandal happening during his tenure, but maintains he knew nothing about illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.
The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered and damaged Malaysia’s image abroad.
