Ex-Malaysian PM Najib’s house arrest bid gets boost through court ruling

A Malaysian court has boosted incarcerated former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s attempt to serve the remainder of his six-year sentence at home, saying the government didn’t adequately challenge the bid. 

This means the case goes back to the High Court, which now has to hear Najib’s application to review his sentence. It refused to do so last year, citing a lack of evidence.

Najib, 71, has claimed since April that the king issued a decree on Jan. 29, 2024, a day before the monarch’s term ended, permitting house arrest but that the government did not announce it.

The Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision on Monday that overturned the earlier one, said the applicant “only needs to show that he or she has a good arguable case premised on the fact that his interests or rights have been aggrieved” and he had demonstrated that.

“[W]e are therefore minded to allow the appeal. We hereby order the matter to be remitted to the High Court to hear the [case] but before a different judge,” the appeals court said.

“The fact that there is no rebuttal evidence from the respondents challenging the [decree’s] existence ... is rather compelling. This court cannot simply ignore the existence of the order.” 

The appeals court also allowed Najib to present what his lawyer said was new evidence to the High Court – a hearing is set for Jan. 13.

‘Valid and authentic’

The new evidence is a Jan. 4 letter to Najib’s eldest son signed by the office of the ex-king stating that the royal did issue a decree permitting Najib to finish his sentence under house arrest. 

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the former king, is the ruler of Pahang state, from where Najib hails.

In a rare response to a media request, the sultan’s palace confirmed to BenarNews that the letter and its contents were authentic.

“Please be informed that the letter dated Jan. 4, 2025, signed by [the royal administrator] … is valid and authentic,” the email response from the Pahang palace stated.  

In its judgment, the appeals court said there was “no justification for ignoring the existence of this order.” 

BenarNews contacted the Attorney General office for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

Meanwhile, the Anwar Ibrahim government was criticized for what was perceived as yet another occasion that it failed to prepare for a big case. 

Najib’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) is a key partner in Prime Minister Anwar’s ruling coalition. And recent legal victories for the ex-PM, his associates and his party members, have raised questions about the government influencing the judiciary. 

Anwar has consistently denied such charges. Commenting on the recent acquittal of former first lady Rosmah Mansor – Najib’s wife – local media quoted him as positing a theory for cases that saw charges being dropped, and acquittals.

According to Anwar, after UMNO’s historic election defeat in 2018, prosecutions, driven and rushed by “venom, enmity, and political vengeance,” led to them being “flawed.”

Political analyst Azmil Mohd Tayeb said the appeals court’s ruling had set a “dangerous precedent” that reinforced perceptions of impunity for the elite. 

“This [ruling] signals [there are] two sets of laws – one for the elites and another for ordinary citizens,” Azmil, a political scientist at Universiti Sains Malaysia, told BenarNews.

Another analyst, Syaza Syukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia, noted that Malaysia’s elites have often avoided accountability.

“Just that Najib got attention because he was a Prime Minister and of course due to [the scale of the scandal],”she told BenarNews.

“This is nothing new in the grand scheme of things.”