Najib Placed Under House Arrest Effective Immediately

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The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his six-year SRC International prison sentence under house arrest, effective today, 10 November

According to the New Straits Times, Najib can begin serving his house arrest order at his Taman Duta residence from today until 23 August 2028.

In a decision earlier today, Judge Datuk Aslam Zainuddin set aside the 6 November order of discharge upon payment of a fine and replaced it with the house arrest order.

Aslam said Najib is to serve the balance of his reduced prison sentence at his Kuala Lumpur residence at No. 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, in line with the conditional royal pardon granted on 18 September.

In other words, Najib will be going home to begin his house arrest.

Speaking to reporters, Najib's lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said his client would stop at Kajang Prison before heading to his residence.

He said prison officers would read the conditions of the house arrest to the former prime minister at Kajang Prison before taking him home.

"That is the plan and that is what I was informed by the officer in charge from the prison," he said when asked if Najib would be home by the end of the day.

Last Friday, the former prime minister paid the RM50 million fine required for him to qualify for house arrest

However, he was not sent home last week despite the payment, as the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) questioned the wording of "discharge" in the court order.

Commenting on the issue, Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the discharge order stated that Najib was to be released, whereas the Pardons Board had granted Najib a house arrest.

"House arrest is different from release. So, from our position, which one should we follow? These are legal documents and if there is any ambiguity, we refer the matter to the court.

"The wording used is 'discharge forthwith', meaning release. In prison terminology, there are distinctions between release, discharge, and discharge not amounting to acquittal.

"If discharge means that he is released, then the Prisons Department no longer has any authority over him. But if it is house arrest, the department still has authority," The Edge quoted Saifuddin as saying yesterday, 9 November.

Following the confusion, the AGC filed a rectification application in the Kuala Lumpur High Court earlier today seeking a fresh discharge order for Najib's house arrest, reported NST.

The AGC outlined two possible interpretations of the conditional pardon.

The first interpretation was that paying the RM50 million fine would only settle the financial penalty, meaning Najib would still have to serve the remainder of his SRC International prison sentence under house arrest until 23 August 2028.

The second interpretation was that settling the fine would mean Najib had fully served his SRC International sentence, including the prison term.

Lawyers had voiced support over the weekend for the AGC to seek clarification on the discharge order, reported FMT.