KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Reuters) – Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a court ruling denying his request to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, local media The Edge reported on Monday, citing court documents.
Najib was found guilty of a string of graft offences in connection to his role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
• Najib has been serving a six-year jail sentence since August 2022 after being convicted of graft and money laundering in one of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad – a state fund he helped establish in 2009 while he was premier.
• The ex-premier launched a legal bid for home detention after his sentence was halved by a pardons board decision chaired by Malaysia’s former king in 2024.
• Najib insists the board’s decision was accompanied by an addendum order issued by the king that allowed him to serve the remainder of his jail term at home, which he alleges was ignored by authorities.
• The Kuala Lumpur High Court denied Najib’s house arrest bid on December 22, a decision that Najib subsequently appealed.
• Najib has since withdrawn the appeal without liberty to file a fresh appeal, with the Court of Appeal acknowledging the withdrawal, The Edge reported on Monday, citing letters from Najib’s lawyers and the court, dated April 3 and April 6 respectively.
• Najib’s lawyers and the Attorney General’s Chambers did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
• The withdrawal of his appeal for home detention would mark yet another setback for Najib, after he was jailed a further 15 years and fined $2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering in December following the biggest trial yet involving the 1MDB saga.
• Malaysia and U.S. investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the 1MDB state fund, with more than $1 billion allegedly making its way into accounts linked to Najib.
• Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing and has apologised for mishandling the scandal.
(Reporting by Danial Azhar; Editing by David Stanway)
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