Malaysia ex-PM Najib Razak set for house arrest after party pays fine to leave jail

A Malaysian court has issued an order allowing the transferto house arrest of jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak, his lawyer said onFriday, after his party announced it had paid a fine under the terms of a royalpardon. Najib, primeminister from 2009 to 2018, was found guilty of corruption in relation to theembezzlement of billions of dollars tied to 1Malaysia Development Berhad,a state investment fund he co-founded while in power.

He has consistentlydenied wrongdoing. “We have thatorder, and we will be delivering that order to the Kajang prison right now,”Najib’s lawyer Farhan Shafee told reporters, referring to the jailwhere Najib has been held since 2022.

Malaysia’s KingSultan Ibrahim agreed in September to allow Najib to serve the remainder of hissentence under house arrest, in a second royal pardon over hisconviction. Najib wasrequired to pay a 50 million ringgit ($12.32 million) fine as a condition ofthe pardon, which his party, the United Malays National Organisation, saidhad been done on his behalf.