Jailed ex-Malaysian PM Najib to appeal for house arrest

Malaysia’s Court of Appeal will hear Najib’s challenge on Thursday against a lower court’s refusal to hear his request for house arrest

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Lawyers for Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak are arguing he should serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest. File photo: AFP

Published: 11:53am, 1 Dec 2024

Malaysia’s jailed former leader Najib Razak will begin his defence this week against corruption charges tied to more than US$500 million in alleged bribes, and argue to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

The former prime minister, already serving a six-year jail term for corruption related to the plunder of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, faces several other cases linked to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in 2018 elections.

At the High Court on Monday, the 71-year-old will start his defence against four counts of abuse of power linked to 2.27 billion ringgit (US$510 million) in alleged bribes and 21 counts of money laundering.

A Malaysian court allowed corruption charges in one of several cases linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund against jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak to be dropped. File photo: AFP

The case involves Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to siphon money from 1MDB.

Najib issued an apology in October that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he did not know about illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.

If convicted, Najib faces hefty fines and sentences of up to 20 years for each count of abuse of power.

Najib’s lead lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has said they were “more determined” than ever to fight the case.