PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pardon application has been deferred to a future meeting of the Pardons Board, according to the Prime Minister’s Department.
The decision was made at the 63rd meeting of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya on Friday (Sept 11).
The Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division said the board had agreed to defer Najib’s application for a pardon to a future meeting.
At the same meeting, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia consented to the release of 65 prisoners on Friday.
All non-Malaysian prisoners released under the decision must be deported and returned to their respective countries within six months of their release, the division said in a statement.
The meeting was held in Putrajaya on Friday.
It was reported that Najib’s house arrest application was expected to be among the issues raised, although it remained unclear whether the meeting would result in a decision or merely discuss the matter.
Najib, 73, was convicted of misappropriating RM42mil belonging to SRC International and sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with a RM210mil fine.
He began serving his sentence at Kajang Prison on Aug 23, 2022.
The Pardons Board subsequently halved his prison term to six years and reduced the fine to RM50mil.
On Dec 22, then High Court judge Justice Alice Loke, now a Court of Appeal judge, dismissed Najib’s application to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
Najib later withdrew his appeal against the decision.
