Malaysia defers former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s pardon application
In Malaysia, the Federal Territories Pardons Board has postponed consideration of a new pardon application by imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak until its next meeting. The decision was made on September 11, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing the legal affairs division of the country’s Prime Minister’s Office.
Consideration postponed
According to the agency, Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar agreed to defer consideration of Najib Razak’s application to a future meeting of the Pardons Board. The monarch chairs the board, which also includes the attorney general, Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh, and three other members.
At its September 11 meeting, the board also approved the release of 65 prisoners. Foreign nationals among them are to be repatriated to their countries of origin within six months after their release.
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Current sentence and previous pardon
Najib Razak is being held at Kajang Prison. Following a partial royal pardon in January 2024, his current prison term is due to end on August 23, 2028. At that time, his sentence was halved and the fine was reduced to 50 million Malaysian ringgit, or approximately $12.3 million.
In July 2020, the politician was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined 210 million ringgit on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering, and one count of abuse of power. The charges concerned the transfer of 42 million ringgit from SRC International, a former subsidiary of the state fund 1MDB, to his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015. He began serving his sentence in August 2022.
Another 1MDB case
In December 2025, the High Court also sentenced Najib Razak to 15 years in prison and fined him 11.38 billion ringgit in a separate case linked to 1MDB. He was found guilty on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering in a case involving 2.2 billion ringgit allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB. This sentence is to begin after his current sentence ends in 2028; the former prime minister has appealed the verdict and sentence.
