Malaysia’s Najib is back home, but home comforts are off the menu

Najib Razak, Malaysia’s corrupt former prime minister, may be back home to serve the rest of his prison sentence, but that does not mean he will be living in comfort with wife Rosmah Mansor and the rest of his family, a member of his party has confirmed.

Najib returned to his house on Jalan Langgak Duta at about 9.30pm on Tuesday, after the High Court cleared the way for his release from jail.

The start of his house arrest also marked the end of Anthony Loke’s stint as transport minister. Loke, who heads the Democratic Action Party chief, had vowed to resign the moment “Najib steps into his house” – and did just that on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Loke told reporters his “conscience is clear” because he had done his best over six years as minister, the Malay Mail reported.

“A leader must be decisive. That is what I tried to do, to be a decisive minister,” he said. “Maybe if there’s mistakes, we correct. In life, not everything is correct, sometimes there’s mistakes, but let mistakes be lessons to make us a better organisation.”

No home comforts

Najib’s house arrest will bring no home comforts, according to Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid, an executive council member of Wanita Umno, the women’s wing of Najib’s party. His family will not live with him nor will he be allowed to order food deliveries.

She was responding to a social media post asking whether “Bossku” (“my boss”), the nickname his supporters use for Najib, could receive family visits or order from Foodpanda.

“Cannot. The house has been gazetted as a prison,” Nurulhidayah wrote. “The concept of a prison does not include having your wife and children living with you … His family will not be staying with him. Rosmah will be staying at Pavilion.”

Rosmah was convicted in September 2022 on three corruption charges related to a solar energy project in Sarawak and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She is currently living at the Pavilion Residences, a luxury apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur, while out on bail pending appeal.

Najib’s house arrest conditions would be similar to those of other inmates, including designated visiting hours and prison food, Nurulhidayah said. “All food and drinks will be determined by the prison authorities,” she wrote.

Asked by another social media user whether the restrictions applied because Najib was still considered a prisoner until his term ended in August 2028, she replied: “Yes. He has inmate status, for those who do not understand.”

Nurulhidayah thanked social media users for asking “because you want to know”, adding: “I am tired of reading slander from people who think they know everything.”

Najib had been imprisoned since August 2022 for the misappropriating 42 million ringgit (US$10.3 million) from SRC International, a company linked to the 1MDB scandal. In September, King Sultan Ibrahim pardoned him, allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest once he paid a court-imposed fine of 50 million ringgit. Umno crowdfunded the money and paid the fine on Friday.

Party leaders in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition have opposed Najib’s house arrest, the first of its kind in Malaysia. Apart from Loke, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu has also made his position clear.

On Wednesday, the agriculture and food security minister who is popularly known as Mat Sabu, released a statement offering to donate his entire salary until parliament was dissolved. He said the money would go to non-governmental organisations campaigning for all prisoners to be allowed to serve half their sentence under house arrest – just like Najib.

He said the proposal was not motivated by any personal dispute with Najib or his family, but by the principles of constitutional supremacy and the rule of law.

“Laws must be fair to everyone. Justice cannot be an exclusive right reserved for certain groups. Malaysia cannot practise a two-tier justice system,” he said.