KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 2 Feb: Malaysia\u2019s Pardons Board said Friday it has reduced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak\u2019s 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply cut a fine, less than two years into his sentence from a corruption case linked to the theft of billions of dollars from state coffers.
\nWith the sentence commuted, Najib will be freed by Aug. 23, 2028, the board said in a statement. The board also cut Najib\u2019s 210 million-ringgit ($44.5 million) fine to 50 million ringgit.
\nIt is unclear if Najib is still eligible for additional time off for good behavior. If so, he could be out as early as August 2026.
\nDespite his conviction, Najib is still influential in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is now a member of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim\u2019s unity government that took power after 2022 general elections.
\nThe Pardons Board didn\u2019t explain why it commuted Najib\u2019s sentence, nor why it waited until Friday to announce it. The board isn\u2019t required to give any grounds for its action, which has prompted an outcry and triggered calls for the government to justify the move.
\nThe board said it considered Najib\u2019s application for a royal pardon at its meeting Monday and decided to reduce his sentence and fine after considering advice and opinions. The meeting was chaired by the country\u2019s then-king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is from Najib\u2019s home state of Pahang. A new king took office on Wednesday under Malaysia\u2019s unique rotating monarchy system.
\nThe decision is seen to further hurt Anwar\u2019s anti-corruption campaign, just months after prosecutors dropped 47 graft charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is the current UMNO party chief.
\nAnwar said Najib had gone through the process of law and has the right to appeal for a royal pardon. He said the king has the final say.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s beyond the prime minister or the government. I respect the decision of the then-king. … Of course it is very political, some support, some don\u2019t but they cannot ignore the fact that you must respect the rights of everyone convicted to appeal to the Pardons Board,\u201d Anwar said in an interview with Al-Jazeera. AP<\/p>\n
Najib still has other linked trials which will continue, he added.
\nNajib, 70, was imprisoned in August 2022 after losing his final appeal in his first of several corruption trials linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of a state fund, 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB. He became Malaysia\u2019s first former leader to be imprisoned after the shocking defeat of his long ruling coalition in a 2018 general election due to the 1MDB scandal.
\n1MDB was a development fund that Najib set up shortly after taking power in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib\u2019s associates through layers of bank accounts in the U.S. and other countries and financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib\u2019s bank accounts.
\nNajib was found guilty in 2020 of seven charges of corruption for illegally receiving $9.4 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. He still faces several other graft trials linked to 1MDB. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also sentenced in 2022 to 10 years in prison and a record fine of 970 million ringgit for corruption involving a solar energy project and is out on bail pending an appeal.
\nNajib has maintained his innocence, alleging he was duped by Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho, thought to be the mastermind of the scandal, who remains at large.
\nMany Malaysians on Friday demanded to know the justification of the pardons board\u2019s move for such a high-profile graft case in which the government had to spend billions of dollars to service 1MDB\u2019s debts.
\n\u201cThe message to the world … is depressingly and bleakly clear: there are 2 tracks for criminals in Malaysia \u2014 1 for all of us ordinary rakyat (citizens), 1 for the political elite. Very sad day for this country,\u201d lawyer and politician Lim Wei Jiet wrote on social media.
\nSome analysts said pushback is likely to be contained. Anyone who insults the king can be charged for sedition.
\n\u201cAnwar\u2019s reputation as a reformer would take a beating. There will be some outrage but the fallout will be limited. The Malay community is quite feudalistic and once they are told it\u2019s the king\u2019s prerogative, they will back off,\u201d said James Chin, professor of Asian studies at Australia\u2019s University of Tasmania.
\nNajib\u2019s daughter, Nooryana Najwa Najib, posted on Instagram that the family appreciated the board\u2019s gesture but were disappointed that Najib wasn\u2019t given a full pardon and released immediately. AP<\/p>\n
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 2 Feb: Malaysia\u2019s Pardons Board said Friday it has reduced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak\u2019s 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply cut a fine, less than two years into his sentence from a corruption case linked to the theft of billions of dollars from state coffers. With the sentence commuted, Najib will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-233816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}