Malaysia’s king: Najib’s pardon is clear; Anwar instructs Attorney General to explain house-arrest delay

Former prime minister of Malaysia Najib Razak’s bid to serve his sentence at home has taken another turn. The King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim, has rejected claims of uncertainty over the interpretation of a conditional pardon, stressing that the order is explicit, clear and unambiguous; having paid his fine in full, Najib has fulfilled the conditions of the pardon and may serve his sentence at home. Any challenge to the pardon amounts to defiance of the royal order.

After Sultan Ibrahim issued his statement on Saturday (7 November), Najib’s party, UMNO, immediately called on the authorities to allow him to leave prison and begin serving his sentence at home. However, Najib remained in Kajang Prison as of press time on Saturday night.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim instructed Attorney General (AG) Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar to seek an audience with the king as soon as possible to explain why the Attorney General's Chambers had put the home detention arrangements on hold.

According to reports by Sin Chew Daily and news websites including Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today, Anwar stressed after attending an event on Saturday that the king’s power to grant pardons was beyond question. What needed to be clarified and explained to the king were the legal questions arising from the High Court’s release order issued after Najib paid his fine in full. These required a court ruling as they would affect the start date of Najib’s sentence in another case in which he had been convicted.

Anwar said, “I have asked the AG to promptly seek an audience with His Majesty to clarify that the (king’s) decision was accepted in the case involving SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), but complications have arisen because it involves the second case, namely the 1MDB case.”

In December last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted Najib in the 1MDB corruption case and sentenced him to 15 years in prison and a fine of RM11.39 billion (S$3.582 billion). The new sentence will begin after he completes his sentence in the SRC International case, which is expected to end in August 2028.

After UMNO helped Najib pay his RM50 million fine in the SRC case in full on Friday (6 November), in accordance with the conditions of his pardon, he was due to begin serving his sentence at home that day. However, the Attorney General's Chambers unexpectedly announced that the arrangement would be put on hold to clarify the legal interpretation of the conditional pardon and questions over his remaining penalties.

The Attorney General's Chambers said at the time that there were two interpretations of the pardon. Under the first, paying the fine in full merely fulfils the financial penalty, and Najib must still serve his sentence until 23 August 2028, albeit at home rather than in prison. Under the second, payment brings the pardon into full effect, remitting all penalties in the SRC International case, including imprisonment.

In a further statement on Saturday responding to questions raised by Najib’s lawyers, the Attorney General's Chambers explained that the dispute concerned not the pardon, but the release order issued by the High Court after Najib paid his fine in full.

The statement said that if the release order’s legal effect applied only to the fine, leaving the prison sentence in force, Najib could serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence at home until 23 August 2028 under the conditional pardon.

But if the release order meant that the pardon had taken full effect and the SRC International sentence was legally considered completed, Najib would have to remain in prison to begin serving his sentence in the 1MDB case, despite having received a conditional pardon.

The Attorney General's Chambers said that allowing Najib to serve his sentence at home without first resolving these questions could ultimately result in him serving longer than his actual sentence.

Responding to the explanation by the Attorney General's Chambers, Istana Negara said in a statement on Saturday that the conditional pardon was explicit, left no room for ambiguity and did not cover Najib’s other cases. There should therefore be no misunderstanding or confusion over its interpretation, let alone delays in implementing the king’s order.

The palace said that when the Federal Territories Pardons Board considered Najib’s pardon application on 18 September this year, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) and the AG had provided appropriate advice to the king. The king subsequently allowed Najib to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence at home, provided he first paid the RM50 million fine in full.

The palace stressed in its statement that the power to grant pardons is a royal prerogative conferred by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and must be fully respected in accordance with the principles of constitutional monarchy and the rule of law.