Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, convicted in the 1MDB scandal, received a significant legal victory as the appeals court granted his request to view a document he claims entitles him to house arrest. This decision, accompanied by confirmation from the royal palace, has reignited debate surrounding the legitimacy of the king's previous pardon decision and the possibility of Najib serving the remainder of his sentence at home.
Malaysia 's appeals court on Monday granted a bid by jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to see a document he said should allow him to serve his sentence at home, in a rare win for a disgraced ex-leader at the heart of the Southeast Asian country's biggest scandal.
Najib, who was jailed over the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund scandal, had appealed a lower court decision last July that dismissed his bid to confirm the existence of and execute a royal order that he said entitled him to house arrest.Malaysia's pardons board, at the time led by then-king Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, agreed last February to halve Najib's jail sentence to six years from 12 and reduced fines imposed on him, sparking public uproar.But Najib maintained that an 'addendum order' on house arrest was issued by the former king alongside the decision but was never executed by authorities.In a 2-to-1decision on Monday, the Court of Appeal granted Najib's appeal to overturn the lower court's dismissal of his previous request. The case will return to the High Court for hearing by a different judge.'Najib was happy very relieved that, finally, they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him,' his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told a press conference.In a surprise twist while the court was in session on Monday, an aide to Najib shared with media a letter dated Jan. 4 from the office of Al-Sultan Abdullah's palace, which stated a royal order granting Najib home detention was 'valid and authentic.'The office confirmed to Reuters the authenticity of that letter, which marked the first public acknowledgment by the palace of the existence of the royal order, issued just before the king ended his five-year reign.According to the country's Constitution, the country's king, which changes every five years under a unique system of monarchy, has authority to take decisions on granting pardons upon the advice of a pardons boar
Najib Razak Malaysia 1MDB Royal Pardon House Arrest Appeals Court Politics Corruption
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