KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 25): The High Court has set Oct 14 to hear former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's bid to stay the conviction and sentence in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) criminal case.
Najib is seeking to pause the execution of the 15 years' imprisonment and RM11.38 billion fine until all his appeal avenues are exhausted.
The sentence was meted out by trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Dec 26 last year.
Sequerah, who is now a Federal Court judge, also sentenced Najib to an additional 10 years in jail if he fails to pay the fine. The 73-year-old was also ordered to pay a recoverable sum of RM2.081 billion.
The sentence is to start in August 2028, following the completion of his reduced prison sentence from the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
The Oct 14 hearing date was set on Friday during case management before High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin, who noted that the application came with a certificate of urgency. Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah appeared for Najib while deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustafa P Kunyalam appeared for the prosecution.
Ordinarily, a stay of execution would be applied immediately following the decision.
Najib's application in this case comes fresh on the heels of the Pardons Board — under the King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar — announcing last Friday that the ex-PM is allowed to serve the remainder of his reduced jail term under house arrest on the condition that he pays the RM50 million fine.
In the SRC case, the court had upheld Najib's guilty verdict for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering as well as his 12-year jail term and RM210 million fine.
However, in 2024, the Pardons Board under then King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah reduced these to six years and RM50 million.
It is understood that Najib has yet to pay the fine and the Attorney General has yet to announce the specific guidelines for Najib's house arrest, given that Malaysia currently does not have laws that govern house arrest.
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