KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak most likely could serve the remainder of his prison time under house arrest on the same day he pays the prerequisite RM50mil fine, says his lawyer.
Defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the press that there was "a good chance" Najib could leave the Kajang Prison on the same day the condition was fulfilled.
He was responding to a question on how soon would it be for Najib to return home after making the payment.
“It depends. If we are ready, for instance this Oct 14 we get the stay (on 1Malaysia Development Bhd sentence) and the RM50mil fine is paid, there is a good chance he would be released on the same day.
"Or maybe there will be some argument in court whether his freedom takes place on the same day or not," he said.
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Earlier, the High Court fixed Oct 14 to hear Najib's application to stay the 15-year prison time and RM11.38bil fine imposed on him in the RM2.28bil 1MDB trial.
Najib's defence team did not make the application for stay when the sentence was meted out on him on Dec 25, last year, when he was convicted of 25 charges of power abuse and money laundering in the 1MDB case.
The former prime minister was serving his time in Kajang Prison for the SRC International Sdn Bhd case and Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered for the 1MDB sentence to run consecutively after the completion of the SRC sentence.
"We apply for the stay now because there is the conditional pardon granted to him. After the SRC sentence is completed, the 1MDB sentence would kick in.
"So we ask for a stay so that the stay has an effect," Muhammad Shafee said.
