Najib gets nod for house arrest bid after lawyers produce purported letter from Pahang palace

PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak was on Jan 6 granted leave to pursue his legal bid for house arrest, after his lawyers produced a purported letter from the Pahang palace confirming

the existence of a royal decree

allowing him to serve the rest of his jail sentence at home.

The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal, in a split 2-1 decision, ordered the Kuala Lumpur High Court to hear the merits of the case. The lower court had in July 2024 dismissed

Najib’s application to commence a judicial review

to compel the government to reply on or confirm the existence of the royal order from the King for his house arrest.

Justice Mohd Firuz Jaffril, in reading the majority ruling, said there was no rebuttal from the respondents, which include the Malaysian government and the Pardons Board, challenging the existence of the alleged royal addendum dated Jan 29, 2024.

“The fact that there is no rebuttal evidence from the respondents challenging the existence (of the addendum)... is rather compelling,” he said. “This court cannot simply ignore the existence of the order by the (King).”

Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah, told the court that on Jan 5, Najib’s son Mohd Nizar Najib received a letter from the Pahang palace’s comptroller that purportedly confirmed the existence of a royal addendum allowing Najib to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

Najib, 71, was in 2022

sentenced to 12 years’ jail

for corruption linked to the multibillion-dollar scandal involving state fund 1MDB.

On Jan 29, 2024, Malaysia’s then King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah of Pahang, presided over the Pardons Board’s decision to halve Najib’s 12-year jail term and slash his RM210 million (S$63.6 million) fine to RM50 million. Najib has claimed there exists a royal addendum to that decision that entitles him to serve his prison sentence at home.

Mr Shafee told the court that the letter from the royal household confirmed that the Pahang Sultan did issue such a royal addendum and that the addendum order does exist.

The letter, dated Jan 4, 2025, was purportedly issued by the Pahang Sultanate Council and signed by Datuk Ahmad Khirrizal Ab Rahman, Comptroller of the Royal Family and Household. It states that a royal decree for Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, via an addendum dated Jan 29, 2024, “exists and is legitimate”.

The three-member Court of Appeal bench included Justice Azizah Nawawi and Justice Azhahari Kamal Ramli.

At an afternoon press conference on Jan 6, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail stated that the Pahang palace did not communicate the royal addendum to the Prison Department, preventing the department from carrying out the home arrest order. His ministry oversees Malaysia’s prisons.

He said that the Prison Department received only a sentence reduction order for Najib’s jail term from the Pardons Board on Feb 2, 2024.

“The order was signed by the then Malaysian King (Sultan Abdullah Ahmad) and witnessed by Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa. Two major decisions were made: reducing Najib’s jail sentence to end on Aug 23, 2028, and lowering the fine to RM50 million. If the fine remains unpaid, the jail sentence will be extended until Aug 23, 2029,” Datuk Seri Saifuddin told reporters shortly after the Court of Appeal’s decision.

“This is the letter received by the Prison Department, which does not mention anything about home arrest. It is important to clarify any misconceptions about the Home Ministry, especially the Prison Department, for not obeying the order. How can we execute an order that does not exist in the letter?” he said.

Professor James Chin, who teaches Asian studies at the University of Tasmania, said: “For the Najib camp, it is a very clear win because it looks very likely now that he has gone back to the courts to get them to enforce this order. It is very difficult for the courts to say no to him because it is widely understood that the royals have absolute prerogative when it comes to commuting or giving pardons.”

Earlier in the day, thousands gathered outside the court in Putrajaya to await the Court of Appeal’s decision on Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

The crowd began assembling at the Palace of Justice in administrative capital Putrajaya at 8am and comprised those from his Umno party, which forms part of the ruling coalition government, as well as opposition alliance Perikatan Nasional (PN). Leaders from PN, such as Parti Islam SeMalaysia secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia deputy president Hamzah Zainudin, were also present.