Malaysia's king warns against challenging Najib Razak's house-arrest pardon after $12 million fine paid

Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim has warned that any attempt to challenge his order allowing former Prime Minister Najib Razak to serve the remaining two years of his sentence under house arrest could amount to defying his decree. The warning came a day after authorities delayed Najib’s transfer from prison, despite his party paying a 50-million-ringgit fine, about $12 million, to meet a condition of the royal pardon issued in September, as per reports by Reuters, Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post (SCMP).Najib, who has been in jail since 2022 after being convicted of corruption and money laundering in a case linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, was due to be transferred home on Friday.

The attorney-general’s office said questions had arisen over the legal interpretation of the royal pardon and a court order allowing Najib to leave jail, prompting the suspension. Read more details about it, as per the reports, here:What the king saidIn a statement issued by the national palace, Sultan Ibrahim said his pardon order was clear, explicit and without any ambiguity.