No House Arrest For Najib, Court Orders Him To Remain In Kajang Prison

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has dismissed former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today (22 December) dismissed an application by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest until his full release.

High Court judge Datuk Alice Loke delivered the decision after reviewing submissions and reading the grounds of judgment relating to the application for nearly an hour, according to Harian Metro.

Citing Sinar Harian, Loke found that the alleged addendum order (Titah Adendum) was never discussed during the 61st Pardons Board meeting held on 29 January 2024 to allow Najib, 72, to serve his sentence at home.

“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong cannot make decisions unilaterally,” she said.

The addendum order was reportedly said to have been consented to by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong to allow the former UMNO president to serve the remainder of his prison term under house arrest.

As a result of today’s decision, Najib will continue serving the remainder of his sentence at Kajang Prison until its completion.

For context, Najib is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

He was originally sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined RM210 million, which was later reduced to six years’ imprisonment and a RM50 million fine.

He is expected to be released on 23 August 2028.

However, in April 2024, Najib filed an application seeking leave for judicial review, claiming the existence of an additional addendum order allowing him to serve his sentence under house arrest.

Although the Kuala Lumpur High Court initially dismissed the application, the Court of Appeal later allowed the appeal by a 2–1 majority decision and ordered the case to be referred back to the High Court for a full hearing.

Over on Instagram, Najib’s daughter Nooryana Najwa reacted with an apology over the ruling.

“Sorry everyone, no good news today,” she stared on her IG Stories.

Earlier, she shared a screenshot of a news article in which her father’s private chef had said he would be making “sup kicap” if “Bossku” was to be released from Kajang Prison today.

In another Story, Nooryana wrote: “So so sorry, daddy. I can’t imagine what you must be feeling at this moment. Have a lot of patience, okay? We live to fight another day, as always. Take care of your health, daddy, that’s the most important thing.”

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