Court grants ex-Malaysian PM Najib house arrest after $12m royal pardon

Malaysia’s jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak is set to transfer from prison to house arrest after his party paid a $12m fine following a royal pardon. Najib’s lawyer, Farhan Shafee, told reporters on Friday that he has been given the order and will be “delivering that order to the Kajang prison right now”.

His house arrest could start on Friday if everything goes to plan, Shafee said. However, Malaysia’s attorney general announced on Friday that Najib’s transfer had been temporarily suspended.

In a statement, reported by Reuters, the chambers of the attorney general said Najib’s current detention status in prison “will be maintained as some ⁠legal questions regarding the interpretation of ⁠Najib’s conditional ⁠royal pardon ⁠need clarifying”. Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, has been held in jail since 2022, following his conviction for corruption and embezzlement of billions of dollars connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state investment fund he cofounded while in power from 2009-2018.