Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Granted Conditional Pardon

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, convicted in the 1MDB scandal for embezzling millions, has been granted royal clemency and will serve the remainder of his six-year jail term under house arrest, according to a statement from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's legal department on Friday. King Sultan Ibrahim granted a "conditional pardon" to Najib, allowing him to serve his sentence at home until August 23, 2028, contingent upon the payment of 50 million Malaysian ringgit (approximately $12.3 million). Najib, 73, is currently serving a six-year prison term for his involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal, which he co-founded while in office from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering involving $10.3 million. He began serving his sentence in 2022. In a separate case, Najib was convicted in December 2025 of abuse of power and money laundering, accused of misappropriating nearly $569 million from 1MDB, resulting in a $2.8 billion fine and a 15-year prison sentence that will commence after his current sentence. It remains unclear if the clemency granted affects the second conviction. Najib has previously received a pardon in 2024, which halved his original sentence and reduced fines. His legal team has not commented on the recent decision, and the timeline for his release into house arrest is not specified. The 1MDB scandal, involving an estimated $4.5 billion in state funds, has been a significant issue in Malaysian politics, contributing to the electoral defeat of Najib's party in 2018. Najib, from a prominent political family, continues to hold political influence in Malaysia, raising concerns about equal treatment under the law.