Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has arrived at his Kuala Lumpur home to serve the remainder of a prison sentence under house arrest, after a new court order clarified the wording governing his transfer from Kajang Prison.
Najib reached his residence in the Taman Duta area on the evening of 10 November, accompanied by police and prison vehicles. The arrival followed a High Court decision earlier that day allowing the house arrest arrangement to take effect immediately.
Under the order, he is to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence in the SRC International case at home until 23 August 2028. The decision concerns that sentence only. It does not cancel a separate 15-year sentence in another case linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state investment fund, known as 1MDB, which Najib is appealing.
A revised court order
Najib’s transfer had been expected on 6 November, after his political party paid a 50 million ringgit fine that was a condition of a royal pardon. But the Attorney-General’s Chambers deferred implementation, saying the legal effect of an earlier discharge order needed clarification.
On 10 November, the High Court set aside that order and replaced it with one directing that the remainder of the SRC sentence be served under house arrest. Judge Aslam Zainuddin made the decision after the attorney-general’s office applied for the earlier wording to be reviewed.
The legal distinction mattered because the payment discharged the fine but did not remove the remaining prison sentence. The authorities had raised questions about whether the original wording could be understood as releasing Najib from that sentence altogether, rather than changing where he served it.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the new decision had clarified the legal questions. He said his ministry and the Prisons Department were responsible for carrying out detention and sentence decisions in accordance with the law and valid court orders.
The delay had also prompted a public intervention from King Sultan Ibrahim, who said the royal power to grant pardons should be respected. The attorney-general’s office maintained that it was seeking clarification rather than challenging the pardon.
What the pardon covers
Najib was convicted in 2020 over funds from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB. The offences included abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering. He began serving his sentence in August 2022 after Malaysia’s highest court upheld the conviction.
The original 12-year sentence and 210 million ringgit fine were reduced by the Pardons Board in 2024 to six years and 50 million ringgit. In September 2026, the king granted a conditional pardon allowing the remainder of the SRC sentence to be served under house arrest, subject to payment of the fine.
Najib’s United Malays National Organisation paid the fine on 6 November following a fundraising campaign among supporters. The latest court order put the home-detention arrangement into effect after the earlier delay.
His lawyer said after the ruling that the detailed conditions had not yet been shared with him, including whether family members would be allowed to live with Najib. It would therefore be premature to assume the full terms of access to the residence.
The separate 1MDB-related conviction remains a distinct legal matter. Najib was sentenced to 15 years in that case in December 2025 and has appealed. The attorney-general’s application sought his return to Kajang Prison after the SRC house arrest ends, subject to any court order then in force. His lawyer said the new order did not specify such a return, noting that the appeal could change the position.
Political response
Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and has denied wrongdoing. His treatment has been a contentious issue within Malaysia’s coalition politics, with his own party supporting the move home and other political figures opposing it.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on 10 November that he was resigning with immediate effect following the court decision. He had first announced his intention to resign in September in protest at the conditional pardon, but stayed temporarily at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s request.
The transfer marks a change in where Najib serves his SRC sentence, not an end to that sentence or a resolution of his separate appeal.
