Malaysia court clears Najib to start house arrest

Malaysia’s High Court has cleared the way ‌for jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to start ⁠his house arrest, ‌state news agency Bernama ‌reported on Tuesday.

Najib was ⁠last ⁠week expected ‌to be transferred from ‌jail ‌but the process ‌was stopped ⁠after an intervention ⁠by the attorney general.

On Tuesday, the attorney general filed ⁠an application to ⁠the court to ⁠review the order allowing Najib to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest.

“The [Attorney-General’s Chambers] filed ‌an application at the High Court today to review the discharge order issued on November 6 and seek a fresh order in line with the conditional pardon granted by the king on September 18,” Attorney-General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar was quoted as saying.

Najib, ⁠prime minister from 2009 to 2018, was jailed in relation to a ‌multibillion-dollar scandal at state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. He was granted approval in a September royal pardon to ‌serve the remaining two years of his sentence at home.

On ⁠Friday, Najib’s ⁠political party paid the fine as part of the terms of the royal pardon, ‌but in a last-minute intervention, the Attorney-General’s Chambers postponed his transfer to house arrest after questions had ‌arisen ‌over the legal interpretation of the royal pardon and the court ‌order allowing Najib to leave jail.

King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar warned on Saturday that any attempt to challenge his order to let Najib leave jail and move to house arrest could amount to defiance against his decree.