A week after deferment, Najib’s release back on agenda as Pardons Board meets on Sept 18: Sources

KUALA LUMPUR - The Federal Territories Pardons Board will be recalled to discuss former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s pardon bid on Sept 18, just a week after the matter was deferred at the board’s last meeting.

Official sources said the meeting is highly unusual, as scheduling such sessions is normally the prerogative of the executive branch.

“This is a very rare move. Out of the blue, the pardons board will have another meeting with just one item on the agenda. I think there is some sort of intervention,” an official source told The Straits Times on Sept 17, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

As of press time, the Palace and Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh have not responded to the request for comment.

Despite rumours of a possible release two years before a six-year jail term is completed, Najib’s case was not decided on at the Sept 11 pardons board meeting chaired by Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor.

“His Majesty consented to the deferment of Najib’s pardon application to the next Pardons Board meeting,” said the Law Department of the Prime Minister’s Department in a statement after the meeting which came as UMNO’s national assembly was ongoing. 

Najib, 73, was the country’s prime minister for nine years.

Najib, who began serving a 12-year sentence due to a graft conviction related to a subsidiary of 1MDB in August 2022, had his jail term halved in 2024 by the Pardons Board - chaired by then King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah of Pahang - and fine reduced to RM50 million (S$15.6 million) from the original RM210 million.

The former UMNO president has also pursued a legal bid to compel the government to execute an “addendum order” for him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

However, the High Court ruled in 2025 that the addendum was unenforceable because it had not been considered by the Pardons Board.

Najib is also appealing another 15 years in prison after being found guilty in a separate 1MDB trial. He was also fined RM11.4 billion, in default of which he would serve another 10 years in prison. This sentence will run after Najib completes his jail term from the earlier case, which is scheduled to end in August 2028.