Malaysia: Govt Denies Allegations Najib Would Gain From House Arrest Bill
By Iman Muttaqin Yusof
Malaysia’s government denied Friday it was trying to ensure an early release for imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak through a bill that would allow house arrest, saying it was intended to reduce prison overcrowding and punitive justice.
Najib’s first public apology a day earlier for the 1MDB fund-looting scandal fueled further talk on social media that the proposed legislation was meant to benefit the former PM, who is implicated in the case. He currently has a little under four years left on his prison sentence.
At a post-cabinet press conference, government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil was asked whether the bill, which is to be presented in parliament next year, was to enable Najib to serve out the remainder of his term from the comfort of his home.
“That’s incorrect. … It reflects a shift in the government’s approach from punitive to restorative justice, aiming to reintegrate individuals found guilty back into the community,” Fahmi told reporters.
“The government’s aim includes addressing prison overcrowding… [Our prisons are] designed for 74,000 inmates, but last year, we had 87,000.”
Malaysia lacks legal provisions for home detention, unlike the U.S. and Australia, legal expert Salim Bashir told BenarNews.
“House arrest confines individuals at home for their sentence or remaining prison term,” said Salim, a former Bar Council of Malaysia president.
“While Malaysia’s Section 43 of the Prison Act 1952 allows certain prisoners to work and reside outside prison with approval, it’s not equivalent to house arrest.”
Najib is serving time for corruption and money laundering tied to nearly U.S. $10 million from SRC International, a subsidiary of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Najib’s sentence is scheduled to end Aug. 23, 2028.
In July, he sought a court order to enforce a document he claims was signed by the former king, allowing him to serve his sentence under house arrest, but a high court rejected his application.
Najib argued that then-King Sultan Abdullah approved the order after giving him a partial royal pardonin Februarythat halved his original 12-year sentence.
Najib challenged the denial of the alleged royal decree. The Court of Appeal has set Dec. 5 to hear the appeal, local media reported.
Apology
Many were taken aback Thursday when Najib’s eldest son, Mohamad Nizar, read out a letter by the incarcerated ex-PM that said he was “deeply hurt” and “in deep shock” that the 1MDB scandal occurred while he was in power.
“It pains me every day to know that the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as minister of finance and prime minister. For that, I would like to apologize unreservedly to the Malaysian people,” Nizar read out from the letter outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
In a separate case, a court will rule on Oct. 30 whether Najib must defend himself or be acquitted of charges tied to 1MDB, including four counts of abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges, involving 2.3 billion ringgit (U.S. $528.7 million) from the sovereign fund.
When reporters asked him about the apology on Friday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim responded: “I received it well.”
‘Timing of the bill’
The house detention bill first came to light on Oct. 18 after Anwar presented the budget.
Theofficial written versionof Anwar’s budget speech to parliament included a sentence about the government planning a law to allow some prisoners to serve time at home. The home minister, the next day, said the bill would be introduced in 2025.
People on social media wondered why Anwar did not read out that part of his written speech in parliament, although it’s not uncommon for ministers to not read out every word of the budget.Political analyst Tunku Mohar Mokhtar said that “the timing of the bill somehow gives rise to speculation that one of its reasons is to help secure Najib’s release.”
“We can’t read the intention behind the proposed bill, although at the same time, we can’t also rule out that this could be designed as a soft landing for Najib,” the analyst at the International Islamic University Malaysia told BenarNews.
“The timing of the bill somehow gives rise to speculation that one of its reasons is to help secure Najib’s release.”
In addition to Najib’s July attempt to serve out his prison sentence at home, another recent event Tunku Mohar was referring to was the August general assembly of the UMNO party, a key ally of Prime Minister Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition.
During that meeting attended by more than 6,000 members, Najib’s release was the top demand, The Star, a local news website, reported.
The prospect that Najib may be released from prison earlier has become a conversation topic in Malaysian politics ever since UMNO decided to back its long-time rival, Pakatan, in November 2022 to break the impasse of ahung parliament.
Such speculation only intensified after a courtin September 2023dropped 47 graft charges against Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, in a case linked to the alleged misuse of millions of dollars at a charity he founded to fight poverty.
Anwar in ‘hard position’
Analysts say the government’s proposed house arrest law could be a compromise solution by Anwar to appease UMNO without fully freeing Najib from his sentence.
“Anwar is in a hard position having to balance the commitment to reform championed by his supporters and the push from certain quarters within UMNO to have Najib released, both matters that are critical to maintaining the balance and stability of his coalition,” Ahmad Mohsein Azman, an analyst at BowerGroupAsia, a political risk consultancy, told BenarNews.
“House arrest may conveniently be the right amount of compromise to manage expectations on both sides without having to absolve Najib from doing his time.”
BenarNews reached out to several leaders of Pakatan and UMNO, but many declined to comment or did not respond to messages.