KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s High Court on Wednesday (Jun 5) deferred a decision on whether former prime minister Najib Razak can proceed with his bid to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.
The court allowed Najib’s application to insert two more affidavits to his leave application and will hear the case again on Jul 3, said senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).
One of the affidavits was filed by Pahang Chief Minister Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, while the other centred on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s speech at the 5th Convention of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Shah Alam in April.
“The AGC objected to the two affidavits as they were filed at the very last minute, which was yesterday, when the court had already set today for the decision on the leave application,” said Mr Shamsul.
“However, the court’s allowed the application to insert the affidavits,” he told reporters after the proceedings on Wednesday, which were held in chambers.
Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah also confirmed that the affidavits were accepted by the court.
Najib, imprisoned since Aug 23, 2022 for corruption offences, is trying to compel the government to produce an addendum order reportedly issued by Malaysia’s former king Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin of Pahang that allows him to serve the rest of his sentence at home.
He has been jailed in Kajang Prison since the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering over the misappropriation of SRC International funds. SRC International is a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
He is slated to be released on Aug 23, 2028.
