KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has granted imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak a rare form of royal clemency, permitting him to complete the rest of his graft sentence under house arrest.
The ruling emerged from an unexpectedly called meeting of the Pardons Board, just one week after Najib’s newest request for clemency had been postponed. It is believed to be the first time house arrest has been used as a royal pardon measure in Malaysia, a development likely to sharpen discussion over the monarchy’s authority, equal treatment under the law and the fate of the country’s best-known corruption convict.
In a statement, the Legal Affairs Department in the Prime Minister’s Department said the king approved a “conditional pardon” for Najib at the Pardons Board meeting. The former leader may serve the remainder of his sentence at home through Aug. 23, 2028, provided he pays the 50 million ringgit ($12 million) fine ordered by the court.
Najib must also comply with conditions set by the authorities, the statement said, warning that the pardon would be revoked if those terms are breached. Officials did not disclose the specific conditions.
Najib, 73, has been behind bars since August 2022, when Malaysia’s highest court upheld his conviction in a corruption case connected to the multibillion-dollar plundering of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.
He received a 12-year prison term and a 210 million ringgit ($51.5 million) fine in 2020 after being found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering. The case involved 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) transferred into his personal bank accounts from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit.
A Pardons Board led by the previous king in January 2024 reduced Najib’s jail term by half, to six years, while cutting his fine to 50 million ringgit.
Najib has long argued that former King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah issued an additional order allowing him to spend the balance of his sentence under house arrest. However, the High Court found that the claimed order could not be enforced because it was neither presented to nor considered by the Pardons Board during its January 2024 session.
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Friday’s house-arrest decision may also complicate questions surrounding a separate corruption sentence facing Najib.
In December 2025, Najib was convicted of abuse of power and money laundering in his principal 1MDB trial, involving more than $700 million allegedly deposited into his accounts. He was handed a further 15-year prison term and fined 11.4 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion). That sentence is scheduled to begin once his current term concludes, though Najib is appealing the conviction.
House arrest had been discussed as part of broader criminal-justice reforms in Malaysia. In 2024, the government said proposed legislation allowing home detention in certain circumstances was aimed at reducing prison overcrowding and recidivism, not designed specifically for Najib.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries. The funds were allegedly used to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry.
A national outrage over the 1MDB scandal led to the historic 2018 election defeat of the party that had governed Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957.
Despite his conviction, Najib still holds clout in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is now part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government that took power after the 2022 elections.
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