Prison Dept visits Najib's home to assess suitability for house arrest

Two vehicles bearing the Prison Department logo were seen entering the home of convicted former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in the upmarket Langgak Duta neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur today.

New Straits Times reported that the vehicles, believed to be carrying several Prison Department officers, entered the compound at about 9.40am.

The officers were there to assess the suitability of the residence for Najib to serve his house arrest. Several officers were later seen inspecting the area around the residence for about 15 minutes before returning to the compound.

They left the residence at about 11.50am.

Malaysiakini has reached out to Najib’s aide, Ahmad Lutfi Azhar, for comment.

House arrest granted

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar granted Najib a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

However, the clemency comes with a caveat: Najib must pay a RM50 million fine and comply with all conditions imposed under the pardon.

Yesterday, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar said the conditional pardon granted to Najib only applies to the jail sentence imposed in his SRC International case.

This means Najib may have to return to prison as he is still facing several other criminal cases in court.

These include a 15-year jail sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year after it convicted him on 25 charges in a separate 1MDB case. The court also ordered Najib to pay an RM11.38 billion fine.

Najib is appealing the conviction.

SRC conviction

The former Pekan MP is serving his sentence over seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering involving more than RM42 million belonging to SRC International.

He was first convicted on all the charges by the High Court in July 2020 following a lengthy trial, and sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million.

Najib began serving his jail term on Aug 23, 2022, after both the Court of Appeal and Federal Court dismissed his appeals and upheld his conviction.

On Jan 29, 2024, the Pardons Board halved his 12-year prison sentence to six years and reduced the RM210 million fine to RM50 million.

At the time, the board was chaired by then-Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

The decision brought forward Najib’s scheduled release date to Aug 23, 2028, subject to payment of the reduced fine.

1MDB case status remains unchanged after Najib's conditional pardon - MACC

Harapan leaders pan Umno fund to pay Najib's RM50m fine

LFL: Anwar, govt must take full responsibility for Najib's pardon

Najib's conditional pardon only applies to SRC International case - AG