Sultan Ibrahim grants Najib conditional pardon for house arrest until 2028

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

The Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division announced on Wednesday that His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim has granted Datuk Seri Najib Razak a conditional pardon allowing the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, provided he pays a RM50 million fine — reduced from the original RM210 million.

The division said any breach of the pardon’s undisclosed conditions will result in revocation and Najib’s return to prison. The move follows a January 2024 decision by the Federal Territories Pardons Board, then chaired by Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, which halved Najib’s 12-year jail term to six years and cut the fine by 76 per cent.

Najib was convicted in July 2020 on seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC International funds — a sum equivalent to about 20 per cent of the original fine. The High Court sentenced him to 12 years’ imprisonment and the RM210 million fine.

He began serving the term at Kajang Prison on Aug 23, 2022, after exhausting his appeals, and petitioned for a royal pardon the following month.

Sultan Abdullah issued an addendum on Jan 29, 2024, the same day as the Pardons Board decision, ordering that Najib serve the reduced sentence under house arrest. The High Court ruled last December that the addendum was invalid because the Pardons Board had not deliberated on it and Malaysian law contained no provision for house arrest. Najib withdrew his appeal and submitted a fresh petition, which culminated in Wednesday’s conditional pardon.

Former Bar Council chairman Nizam Bashir said house arrest remains a form of imprisonment. “While immediate family members residing in the home are allowed, external visitors, political allies or media are restricted and generally require explicit prior approval from the Prisons Department or supervising authorities,” he said.

The Home Minister will declare the designated residence a place of detention under Section 3 of the Prison Act 1995, Nizam added, and hosting events or political meetings is prohibited.

Lawyer Andrew Khoo said house arrest is not yet recognised under Malaysian law, noting that the Prison (Amendment) Bill 2026, which would have provided a statutory framework, was deferred. “So the additional clemency that has now been granted has no corresponding law overseeing it at the moment. To this extent it may contribute to the undermining of the rule of law and the administration of justice in Malaysia,” he said.