Letter from King: Najib gets nod to pursue bid for house arrest

Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak was on Jan 6 granted leave to pursue his legal bid for house arrest, after his lawyers produced a purported letter from the Pahang palace confirming the existence of a royal decree allowing him to serve the rest of his jail sentence at home.

- Hazlin Hassan and Lu Wei Hoong Malaysia Correspondents and Harith Mustaffa

Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak was on Jan 6 granted leave to pursue his legal bid for house arrest, after his lawyers produced a purported letter from the Pahang palace confirming the existence of a royal decree allowing him to serve the rest of his jail sentence at home.

The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal, in a split 2-1 decision, ordered the Kuala Lumpur High Court to hear the merits of the case. The lower court had in July 2024 dismissed Najib's application to commence a judicial review to compel the government to reply on or confirm the existence of the royal order from the King for his house arrest.

Justice Mohd Firuz Jaffril, in reading the majority ruling, said there was no rebuttal from the respondents, which include the Malaysian government and the Pardons Board, challenging the existence of the alleged royal addendum dated Jan 29, 2024.

"The fact that there is no rebuttal evidence from the respondents challenging the existence (of the addendum)... is rather compelling," he said. "This court cannot simply ignore the existence of the order by the (King)."

Najib's lawyer, Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah, told the court that on Jan 5, Najib's son Mohd Nizar Najib received a letter from the Pahang palace's comptroller that purportedly confirmed the existence of a royal addendum allowing Najib to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.