Malaysia says it has no record of documents granting ex-PM Najib home detention

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's law ministry said on Friday it has no record of any documents authorising house arrest for jailed former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as the disgraced former leader pushes to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

Najib, imprisoned for his role in a multibillion-dollar fraud at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, had his 12-year sentence halved last year by then-King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who was chair of a special pardons board.

Najib and the ex-king's palace say the former monarch also granted him house arrest in an "addendum order" that accompanied the pardon. Najib's legal team says that document has been ignored by authorities.

Malaysia's law ministry in a statement said it had not received any official notification or instructions from Malaysia's royal palace on the matter.

"The law ministry, as secretariat to the pardons board, confirms that there are no additional documents or addendums in the official files or records under the ministry," it said.

Malaysia's home and communications ministers have also said they were not aware of the existence of such a document.

Najib was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of 1MDB. He is on trial for corruption in several other 1MDB-linked cases and denies wrongdoing.

Najib has filed a legal challenge seeking to obtain the royal document and confirm its existence. That challenge was initially dismissed by a court, a decision that was overturned on Monday by the Court of Appeal.