Kuala Lumpur, Nov 6 (AP) Malaysia's attorney general temporarily suspended the transfer of former Prime Minister Najib Razak from prison to house arrest to serve the remainder of his graft sentence at home, saying more clarification was needed.
The attorney general's office said in a statement Friday that Najib would remain in prison until the legal matters were resolved.
Local media reported earlier Friday that Najib, 73, had already left prison after his political party paid a 50 million ringgit (USD 12.3 million) fine required under the terms of a royal pardon.
Najib has been imprisoned since August 2022, when Malaysia's top court upheld his conviction in his first graft trial linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state investment fund 1MDB. Malaysia's king in September granted Najib clemency, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest. After paying the fine, he could be free in August 2028.
The house arrest applies only to his reduced six-year sentence in the first trial. It doesn't 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. He's appealing that sentence.
Police were stationed at Najib's house in Kuala Lumpur since early Friday and the road leading to it was blocked.
Asyraf Wajid Dusuki, secretary-general of the United Malays National Organisation, said in a statement that the party had collected sufficient funds through its donation drive for Najib. He said the party had completed payment of the fine at the High Court earlier Friday.
The payment fulfils a key condition attached to the royal pardon.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that he disagreed with UMNO's decision to settle Najib's fine because it risks sending the wrong message about large-scale corruption offenses. But he acknowledged it was the party's right.
“That should not give the public the impression that acts of corruption involving billions of ringgit can simply be overlooked," he was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.
Najib could be imprisoned again if his second appeal fails -----------------------------------------------------------------
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators say at least USD 4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib's associates through layers of bank accounts in the US and other countries. The funds were allegedly used to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewellery.
He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit (USD 51.5 million) in 2020 for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 42 million ringgit (USD 10.3 million) channelled into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.
In January 2024, the Pardons Board halved his sentence to six years and reduced his fine to 50 million ringgit.
King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar subsequently granted Najib a conditional pardon, paving the way for house arrest until August 23, 2028, provided he paid the fine. If Najib fails to win appeal in the second case, he could face a further 15 years in prison after the current sentence ends.
Public outrage over the 1MDB scandal led to the historic 2018 election defeat of the ruling coalition, which had governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957. Despite his conviction, Najib still wields influence in his party, UNMO, which is now part of a new government that took power in 2022. (AP)
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)