For RM50 million, Najib can go home under house arrest

PUTRAJAYA – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has received a conditional pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, with the remainder of his prison sentence to be served under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028.

The decision was made at the 64th meeting of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, held on Friday.

According to the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) of the Prime Minister's Department, the conditional pardon is subject to Najib paying a fine of RM50 million.

"He must comply with the conditions set and should he fail to comply with any of these conditions, the conditional pardon will be void and he must immediately continue serving the remainder of his sentence in prison," the statement said.

Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has received a conditional pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, with the remainder of his prison sentence to be served under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028.

Najib was convicted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in July 2020 on seven charges of misappropriating RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsiciary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The court sentenced him to 12 years in jail and a RM210 million fine, making him the first Malaysian prime minister to be jailed.

He exhausted his appeals when the Federal Court upheld his conviction in August 2022 and he began serving his sentence at Kajang Prison on Aug 23, 2022.

In January 2024, the Pardons Board halved his prison term to six years and cut his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million, bringing his expected release date forward to Aug 23, 2028.

Shortly after that reduction, Najib and his lawyers began claiming that the King at the time, the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah had also issued a separate royal addendum alongside the main pardon order, one that would let him serve out his sentence under house arrest rather than in prison.

Government officials initially said they had no knowledge of such a document and the High Court dismissed Najib's bid for a judicial review in July 2024, ruling that the affidavits supporting his claim, including from Umno figures, were hearsay.

In January 2025, the Court of Appeal allowed him to proceed with a fresh judicial review. The Attorney General's Chambers then challenged that decision at the Federal Court. In August 2025, the Federal Court decided the case could go ahead to a full hearing.

In December, 2025, Najib was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and fined RM13.4 billion for abuse of power and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.

He was found guily on four charges of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering related to RM2.3 billion misappropriated from 1MDB.

The court ordered the jail term to run consecutively to his jail term in Kajang Prison over the SRC International case.