King consents to house arrest for Najib until August 2028

Friday 18 Sep 2026

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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 18): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been allowed house arrest to serve out his remaining sentence for grand corruption.

He will be confined at an unspecified location until August 2028, according to a statement issued by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department following a Pardons Board meeting on Friday. He will also have to pay the previously lessened fine of RM50 million.

“He has to fulfil all conditions set,” the statement read. “Any breach will void the conditional pardon and he will be immediately sent back to prison.”

The move by the King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, follows an unusual Pardons Board meeting that was called shortly after the previous summit on Sept 11 deferred a decision on Najib’s application. The Pardons Board rarely meets and there is no fixed calendar for a meeting.

Najib has been in custody since August 2022 after being found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of government company 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

The original sentence was for 12 years in jail and a RM210 million fine before the punishment was lessened in 2024 by the previous King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

Najib was subsequently sentenced to another 15 years’ imprisonment in December 2025 after being convicted for a more serious crime at 1MDB, although he is appealing against the decision. The sentence is to run after he finishes his SRC jail term in August 2028.

Edited ByJason Ng

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