Former prime minister Najib Razak returned to Kajang Prison at about 7.15pm on Friday, hours after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said his house arrest should be deferred pending a legal review.
Najib had been driven out of the prison under escort at about 2.37pm, after the High Court issued an order for him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest. He was taken to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a health check and dental treatment before being brought back to the prison.
In a statement in the evening, the AGC said the house arrest should be temporarily deferred until legal questions over Najib’s conditional pardon and the High Court order are clarified, and that his detention should stay at his existing place of detention in the meantime.
The AGC said the pardon could be read either as requiring Najib to keep serving his prison term until Aug 23, 2028, with house arrest as another way of serving it, or as bringing the whole SRC International sentence to an end once the RM50 million fine was paid. It said it would take further action once its review is complete.
Umno paid the fine earlier on Friday. The conditional pardon, granted by Sultan Ibrahim in September, allows Najib to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to the payment of the fine and other conditions.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke has said his resignation as transport minister will take effect once Najib arrives home.
Update: A federal gazette published on Friday shows that the Home Minister declared Najib’s residence in Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur, a prison under Section 3 of the Prisons Act 1995, for the detention of persons lawfully in custody.
Update: Istana Negara said on Saturday that the conditional pardon allowing Najib to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest is clear and must be complied with, and that any argument challenging it would amount to defying the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree.