KUALA LUMPUR: Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak won a major court battle on Wednesday (Aug 13) that took him a step closer to being able to serve out a years-long jail term over the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal at home.
Najib, imprisoned since August 2022 in one of several cases related to 1MDB, has been seeking a judicial review to compel authorities to confirm the existence of and execute a royal order issued by former King Al-Sultan Abdullah entitling him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.
In a unanimous decision, the Federal Court, Malaysia’s top tribunal, said on Wednesday it accepted that there was a royal document related to granting house arrest for Najib but it was not in a position to determine its authenticity.
Najib has said an addendum order accompanied a pardon by Al-Sultan Abdullah in January last year that halved his sentence from 12 years to six.
The case has stirred intrigue in Malaysia, with multiple government authorities, including members of the pardons board, for months denying knowledge of the document despite the former king’s office saying an addendum had been issued.
The Federal Court’s three-member panel said while it accepted the order’s existence, it could not determine whether it was truly issued as part of the pardon.
The court declined a request by Najib’s lawyer to hear further arguments, referring the case back to a lower tribunal.
“We remit the case to the High Court for the hearing of the substantive judicial review proceedings before a new judge,” said Federal Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof.
Najib was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Although some 1MDB-linked charges against him have been dropped, Najib is still awaiting a verdict in the biggest trial he faces over the scandal, with the court expected to hear closing arguments in October. He has denied all the charges against him.
