Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim said on Saturday that the attorney general risked disregarding a royal order by delaying the release of former Prime Minister Najib Razak from prison, adding that there was no ambiguity in the pardon granted to him.

Published on: 07/11/2026 - 1:04 p.m.

Mr. Najib has been serving a six-year prison sentence since 2022 for his role in the resounding corruption scandal involving a sovereign fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), now dissolved, which triggered investigations in particular in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

The misappropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars from the 1MDB fund supposed to work for the economic development of Malaysia, for private expenses such as a giant yacht or works of art, was decisive in the defeat in the legislative elections in 2018 of Mr. Najib and his party, the United Malay National Organization (Umno), in power since the independence of this former British colony in 1957.

Sultan Ibrahim granted the 73-year-old former prime minister a conditional pardon in September, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home on the condition that he pay a $12 million fine.

On Friday, Mr. Najib's party indicated that this fine had been paid, a condition for leaving prison and serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

But the country's attorney general immediately blocked the ex-prime minister's house arrest, saying his office needed more clarification on the pardon.

On Saturday, the king declared that there was nothing to clarify, saying that this pardon was “without any ambiguity”. “There must be no confusion of interpretation,” Sultan Ibrahim said in a statement, adding that the measure was not linked to any other case targeting the former leader.

Mr. Najib was also sentenced last December to 15 years' imprisonment for abuse of power and money laundering in another part of the case, a sentence supposed to be served after the first of six years. He appealed.

not “one more minute”

“Given that all the conditions of the conditional pardon order have been met, any argument calling into question this order amounts to denying the order of His Majesty the King,” according to the sovereign’s statement.

Mr Najib's lawyers thanked the monarch on Saturday, saying there was "no basis" for authorities to keep him in detention "one more minute".

“They must immediately transfer him to his residence at Jalan Langgak Duta to serve his sentence at home, as ordered by His Majesty,” lawyer Farhan Shafee said in a statement.

The attorney general's office shortly after published an update in which it refutes any challenge to the king's authority, without however indicating whether it intends to release Mr. Najib immediately.

“This step is not intended to delay or refuse the execution of the conditional pardon order, but to avoid any conflict in the execution of the orders in force and to guarantee that no sentence is carried out illegally,” justified the prosecutor's office.

Hours later, the prime minister's office said the attorney general was requesting an audience with the king to "seek his pardon" and express his intention to comply with his order, while asserting that legal questions remained and only a court could answer them.

On Friday, Mr. Najib left Kajang prison in a car, followed by a convoy of vehicles, according to an AFP journalist. He then reintegrated her with the same convoy.

© 2026 AFP

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