Malaysia’s king postpones decision on ex-PM Najib Razak’s pardon bid

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia’s king on Friday (Sep 11) postponed a decision on a new clemency bid by former premier Najib Razak over his conviction in a case linked to a multi-billion-dollar financial scandal.

King Sultan Ibrahim, who chaired a pardons board meeting on Friday, pardoned 65 inmates but decreed that consideration of Najib’s request be delayed to the next meeting, the legal affairs division of the prime minister’s department said in a statement.

The king plays a largely ceremonial role in Malaysia but has the authority to grant pardons according to discretionary powers under the constitution.

The royal pardon request was the second filed by Najib, who has been in jail since 2022, after Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction for corruption related to a scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund he co-founded during his nine years in power.

More than US$1 billion allegedly made its way into accounts linked to Najib. He has denied the allegations, saying he was made the scapegoat for the embezzlement of what US investigators say was US$4.5 billion in a complex, globe-spanning scheme.

In 2024, the pardons board, then chaired by the previous king, halved Najib’s initial 12-year jail sentence and reduced the fines imposed on him. Najib has insisted that decision also included house arrest, but a legal bid to secure that was unsuccessful.

Najib was sentenced late last year to an additional 15 years in prison and fined US$2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering over the 1MDB scandal. He has appealed that decision.

The announcement confirms media reports this week that 73-year-old Najib, who was premier from 2009 to 2018, was seeking clemency, an issue that could widen fissures in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-party government.

Despite being jailed, Najib remains a divisive figure in Malaysian politics and influential in the once-dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition in Anwar’s administration.

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UMNO this week criticised Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan alliance after it issued a statement saying individuals convicted of graft or abuse of power should serve full sentences, without directly referring to Najib. REUTERS