KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 18): The Pakatan Harapan presidential council has stressed that no one is above the law, after former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was allowed house arrest to serve out the remainder of his jail term following his corruption conviction.
In a brief three-paragraph statement issued on Friday night, the council expressed firm backing for the stance taken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the matter, as well as the advice given by the attorney general and the Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh to the Pardons Board earlier in the day.
Without elaborating what those are, it highlighted that anyone who has been convicted of a crime must serve their sentence in accordance to the rule of law, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
It also reiterated its commitment to institutional reform and anti-graft initiatives. "The council aspires to continue efforts to counter corruption, uphold the Reformasi (reform) agenda, and to cleanse the country of elements of corruption and embezzlement," it added.
Both Anwar and Yeoh had previously addressed their constitutional duties in the Pardons Board, following the deferment of Najib’s pardon bid last week amid intense public scrutiny.
Yeoh said she had stated her views to the board honestly during its Sept 11 meeting, guided by conscience and with the best interests of the nation in mind, after having considered the written opinion of the AG.
Anwar, meanwhile, had said that clemency issues are grounded strictly in constitutional principles, and that he had, as PM, given his views based on the law and on the advice of the AG, and that he had never approached the matter with prejudice or a hateful stance.
Earlier on Friday, the government announced that Najib will be allowed to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
The decision came after the Pardons Board, in a highly unusual move, reconvened to consider his clemency bid a week after deferring the decision.
Najib 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 the Pardons Board's latest meeting, which was chaired by the King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar. Najib will also have to pay a previously lessened fine of RM50 million.
Najib is in jail following his conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
Originally sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million, his jail term was halved by the Pardons Board in 2024 under the previous king — Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah — and his fine reduced to RM50 million.
In December 2025, Najib was sentenced to an additional 15 years and a fine of RM11.4 billion after being convicted of abuse of power and money laundering involving over RM2 billion in the 1MDB-Tanore case.
He is currently appealing the 1MDB-Tanore conviction, while facing several other 1MDB-related cases.