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Najib a step closer to serving jail term at home with court win
The Straits Times
|August 14, 2025
Malaysia's top court accepts existence of royal order linked to granting house arrest
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KUALA LUMPUR - Jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak won a major court battle on Aug 13 that took him a step closer to being able to serve out at home a years-long jail term over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
Najib, imprisoned since August 2022 in one of several cases related to state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad, has been seeking a judicial review to compel the authorities to confirm the existence of and execute a royal order issued by the former king, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, entitling him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.
In a unanimous decision, the Federal Court, Malaysia's top tribunal, said on Aug 13 it accepted that there was a royal document related to granting house arrest for Najib but it was not in a position to determine its authenticity.
Najib has said that an addendum order accompanied a pardon by Sultan Abdullah in January 2024 that halved his sentence from 12 years to six.
This story is from the August 14, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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