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Hadi Azmi

Jailed former prime minister Najib Razak issued a public apology on Thursday for the 1MDB scandal, without fully admitting fault, sparking renewed controversy as the government considers sentencing reforms that may enable his early release.
In a rare statement from prison, Najib said it pains him “every day” to know that the “1MDB debacle” occurred under his watch as prime minister and finance minister.
“For that, I would like to apologise unreservedly to the Malaysian people,” he said.
Najib who served as Malaysia’s prime minister for nine years until his defeat in the 2018 elections, is currently serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted in one of several corruption cases involving the troubled Malaysian sovereign wealth fund in 2020.
The sentence was commuted by half from the original 12 years by then-king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in February, an unpopular decision among the public.
Najib has argued that the last king also signed documents to allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
That has led to a legal battle with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, which has portrayed Najib as a crook responsible for saddling Malaysian taxpayers with massive debt from the 1MDB scandal.


In his apology statement, Najib said that, in hindsight, he should have acted differently when people started questioning the troubled fund of over 2.6 billion ringgit (US$598 million).
“I deeply regret what has taken place at SRC and 1MDB,” he wrote.
“However, being held legally responsible for things that I did not initiate or knowingly enable is unfair to me and I hope and pray that the judicial process will, in the end, prove my innocence.”
Najib has consistently denied direct responsibility for the 1MDB scandal, claiming he was misled by associates like financier Jho Low and that he believed the funds he received were legitimate donations.
His apology comes days after the government announced plans to introduce home detention for certain convicts, raising eyebrows and fuelling speculation that it could pave the way for Najib’s early release.
The proposal, mentioned in last Friday’s budget speech, prompted questions about why such a critical security and prison reform issue was seemingly slipped into the spending plan.
“Which offences would warrant house arrest? Are corruption and criminal breach of trust suitable for house arrest?” asked Hassan Abdul Karim, an MP from Anwar’s People’s Justice Party (PKR), apparently alluding to the deeply divisive Najib’s criminal convictions.

Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail clarified on Sunday that the proposed law would apply to first-time offenders who hadn’t committed major crimes, pregnant women, senior citizens, and inmates with disabilities.
Political analyst Bridget Welsh criticised Najib’s apology, saying it came nine years too late and that he is still clinging to the claim of not being the mastermind behind the scandal that “taxpayers in Malaysia will be paying for decades”.
“[It is] an appeal for clemency and house arrest without substantive acceptance of responsibility,” Welsh wrote on social media.
Najib is still being tried for several other charges linked to the 1MDB scandal.


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Malaysia

Najib issues public apology, without accepting full blame, for Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak speaks to supporters outside the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, Malaysia on August 23, 2022. Photo: AP

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak escorted by prison officers during an appeal hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on June 5. Photo: AFP

Malaysia nepotism claims swirl as daughter of disgraced Najib gets government role

Nooryana Najwa Najib in 2018. She was appointed this week to the board of the Malaysian government’s trade agency. File photo: AFP

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, who is in a wheelchair, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Nooryana Najwa Najib cries as she leaves the federal court in Putrajaya in 2023. Photo: AFP

Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Photo: Hadi Azmi

Malaysia’s budget surprise on house arrest fuels Najib Razak release speculation

Police officers escort former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as he arrives at court for a hearing last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim holds up a briefcase containing his 2025 budget speech at parliament on Friday. Photo: Malaysia’s Department of Information/EPA-EFE

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak arrives at court for a hearing last month. Photo: EPA-EFE

Former Malaysian ambassador Dennis Ignatius’ post on X reacting to the house arrest proposal. Photo: X/DennisIgnatius

Malaysia court commutes death sentence of Najib’s bodyguard for Mongolian model’s murder

Policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar arrive at the courthouse in Shah Alam outside Kuala Lumpur in 2009. Photo: Reuters 

Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006. Photo: EPA

Shaariibuu Setev, father of slain Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, breaks down during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2006. Photo: AFP

Najib loses bid for house arrest as Malaysia court rejects disgraced ex-PM’s request

Najib Razak at a court in Kuala Lumpur last month during his house arrest hearings. Photo: EPA-EFE

Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi leaves court in September last year after 47 corruption charges against him were dismissed. Photo: Bernama/via dpa

Backlash in Malaysia to Najib’s house arrest bid rains on PM Anwar’s PKR parade

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He has bristled at accusations that his People’s Justice Party abandoned its reform promises in the wake of the apparent leniency shown Najib, and others. Photo: AFP

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, current deputy prime minister of Malaysia and Umno chief, reportedly filed an affidavit in support of Najib’s application. Photo: AFP

Former PKR vice-president N. Surendran’s post on X about the party’s 25th anniversary celebrations amid Najib’s application to serve the rest of his jail sentence for corruption under house arrest. Photo: X/nsurendrann

Najib Razak (centre) smiles as he is escorted by prison officers during an appeal hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday last week. He was jailed in 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal. Photo: AFP

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The jailed former prime minister’s partial apology comes as the government considers sentencing reforms that may enable his early release


The jailed former prime minister’s partial apology comes as the government considers sentencing reforms that may enable his early release.
