KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak will find out tomorrow whether he could return home and serve his prison time under house arrest.
High Court judge Justice Alice Loke is scheduled to deliver her decision in the judicial review brought forth by Najib, who is seeking to serve the remainder of his prison sentence at home.
The former prime minister is currently serving the sentence imposed by the High Court that found him guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering in relation to RM42mil siphoned from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
In the high-profile case, Najib exhausted his appeals as he failed to overturn his conviction and sentence.
On Feb 2 last year, the Pardons Board announced in a statement that it had reduced Najib’s initial 12-year jail sentence and RM210mil fine to six years and a RM50mil fine.
According to the statement, Najib will be released on Aug 23, 2028.
“However, if the fine is not paid, a year will be added to the jail term, and the release date will then be on Aug 23, 2029,” the Pardons Board said.
Two months later, on April 1, 2024, Najib filed an application for leave for judicial review, claiming that there was a royal addendum order that would have allowed him to serve his prison time under house arrest.
He named the Home Minister, the Commissioner General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Minister at the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), director-general of the legal affairs at the Prime Minister’s Department and the government as the first until the seventh respondents, respectively.
In the notice of application, Najib sought a mandamus order that all of the respondents or one of them answer and verify the existence of the addendum order dated Jan 29, 2024.
Najib is seeking a mandamus order where, if the addendum order exists, all or one of the respondents must execute the royal order and immediately move him from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur, where he would serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
On July 4, 2024, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Najib’s application for leave, citing hearsay in supporting affidavits.
This prompted Najib to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal, where he won his appeal in a 2-1 majority decision with an order for the matter remitted back to the High Court for a full hearing.
The Attorney General’s Chambers then appealed against the appellate court’s decision at the Federal Court.
On Aug 13, a three-judge panel of the Federal Court, chaired by then Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, dismissed the AGC’s appeal and ordered that Najib’s judicial review be remitted back to the High Court for a full hearing on its merits.
The case went back to the High Court before Justice Alice Loke, who has heard the submissions in the case and fixed Dec 22 for decision.
