Malaysia’s ex-PM Najib granted conditional house arrest

Jailed former Malaysian premier Najib Razak has been granted conditional permission to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, a development that could widen the rift between the ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the Barisan Nasional (BN) bloc in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Cabinet.



The Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by Malaysia's King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor, has commuted Najib’s remaining jail term to house arrest on the condition that Najib pays a RM50 million fine.



"If he fails to comply with any of the conditions, then this conditional pardon is void, and he must immediately continue serving the remainder of his sentence in prison," said the Law Department of the Prime Minister's Department in a statement on Sept 18, following the board's meeting.



The move came just a week after the matter was deferred at the board's last meeting on Sept 11.



Najib, 73, was the country's prime minister for nine years. He was arrested in July 2018 and charged with breach of trust and abuse of power in a case linked to Malaysia's state fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).