[UPDATED] 'Follow King's order, transfer Najib to house arrest,' lawyer says

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's lawyer has demanded that he be immediately transferred from Kajang Prison to house arrest following Istana Negara's clarification that all conditions of his conditional royal pardon have been fulfilled.

Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, a member of Najib's legal team, said there was no longer any basis for the authorities to keep Najib at Kajang Prison.

"They must transfer him immediately to his residence at Jalan Langgak Duta to serve his house arrest, as His Majesty has ordered," he said in a statement.

Farhan also expressed gratitude to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, for clarifying the royal pardon.

"His Majesty has now made clear through Istana Negara that the order is clear and without any ambiguity, is not connected to any other case, and that all its conditions have been met," he said.

Earlier today, Istana Negara said the conditional pardon granted to Najib on Sept 18 was clear, explicit and unambiguous, and unrelated to any other cases involving him.

The palace said all conditions imposed under the pardon had been fulfilled, warning that any attempt to dispute the order would amount to defying the King's decree.

The pardon allows Najib to serve the remainder of his SRC International prison sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to payment of a RM50 million fine.

The fine was paid in full at the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday.

However, the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) later proposed temporarily deferring the house arrest arrangement pending judicial clarification on the legal effect of the High Court's discharge order.

The A-GC said the clarification was necessary to determine whether Najib's SRC International sentence remained in force or had ended, and the implications for his separate prison sentence in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case.

In a statement today, the A-GC denied questioning or attempting to suspend the King's conditional pardon, maintaining that seeking court clarification was necessary to ensure the relevant orders were implemented lawfully.