Malaysian Palace Backs Najib's House Arrest

Kuala Lumpur's national palace declared Saturday that the royal order allowing former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest is final and must be followed.

The statement issued a sharp warning to officials and parties attempting to challenge the move, stating that such actions amount to defying the command of the king.

The palace intervention followed a turbulent 24 hours involving the 72-year-old ex-leader. On Friday, Najib left prison after his political party paid a 50 million ringgit fine, roughly $12.3 million. This payment satisfied the terms of a royal pardon granted in September that allowed him to serve the rest of his sentence at home.

Najib's release was short-lived. Hours after he exited the facility, the attorney general intervened to temporarily block the transfer. The office cited the need for further legal clarification regarding the implementation of the pardon.

Najib was returned to prison following this administrative hold. The palace statement on Saturday asserted that all conditions attached to the conditional pardon had been fully fulfilled. It insisted there should be no prolonged uncertainty over the implementation of the royal prerogative.

“The conditional pardon order is clear, explicit and without any ambiguity, and is unrelated to any other cases against him,” the palace statement read. It added that because the conditions were met, any arguments challenging the order would constitute disobedience to the king.

The attorney general’s office had not responded immediately to the palace's public position. Earlier, the office explained that the delay was not a contest of the pardon itself but a measure to ensure accurate legal implementation. Specifically, they raised concerns about how the house arrest might affect a separate, consecutive sentence.

The house arrest order applies only to Najib's reduced six-year sentence from his first corruption trial. It does not cover a separate 15-year prison sentence imposed in December 2025 for corruption and money laundering in a second major trial tied to the 1MDB scandal. Najib is currently appealing that second sentence.

Najib has been imprisoned since August 2022, when Malaysia's top court upheld his conviction in the first graft trial. That case involved the looting of the state investment fund 1MDB. He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit in 2020. In January 2024, the Pardons Board halved his sentence to six years and reduced his fine to 50 million ringgit.

The conditional pardon allows Najib to serve the remainder of that six-year term under house arrest until August 23, 2028. If he fails to win his appeal in the second case, he could face an additional 15 years in prison after his current sentence concludes. Investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB and laundered through bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries.

The 1MDB scandal triggered a historic election defeat in 2018 for the ruling coalition that had governed Malaysia since independence in 1957. Despite his ongoing legal battles, Najib retains influence within the United Malays National Organisation, a party that is part of the new government that took power in 2022.