Malaysian king warns against defying house arrest order for ex-PM Najib

What the report says

Malaysia’s king has publicly warned that questioning or ignoring his order allowing former prime minister Najib Razak to serve part of his sentence at home could amount to defying the monarch’s decree. The development follows a delay in Najib’s transfer from prison after the attorney general’s office said it needed further clarification on the pardon terms, despite a court ruling that cleared the way for house arrest on Friday.

According to Al Jazeera’s report, Najib, 73, was convicted in connection with the 1MDB state fund scandal, one of the largest global financial scandals involving a sovereign wealth fund. King Sultan Ibrahim granted him a conditional pardon in September, allowing him to complete the remainder of his sentence at home if he paid a $12 million fine. The king said there was nothing ambiguous about the pardon and that it was not linked to Najib’s other cases.

Najib’s lawyers welcomed the king’s statement and said there was no legal basis to keep him in prison any longer. The Attorney General’s Office said it was not challenging royal authority, but argued it wanted to avoid conflicting interpretations of the order. The prime minister’s office later said the attorney general sought an audience with the king while maintaining that some legal questions should still be resolved by the courts.

The house arrest order applies to Najib’s first conviction. He also faces a separate 15-year prison term in another 1MDB-related case, which he is appealing. The episode underscores the continuing sensitivity of Malaysia’s royal powers and the political significance of the long-running 1MDB fallout.