Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a High Court decision that rejected his bid to serve the remainder of his SRC International prison sentence under house arrest.
According to Malay Mail, Najib’s legal team, Messrs Shafee & Co, filed a notice of discontinuance on April 3. No reasons were stated for the withdrawal, but the filing confirmed that the appeal was discontinued “without liberty to file afresh and with no order as to costs”.
The decision effectively bars Najib from re-filing the same appeal seeking house arrest in relation to his SRC International conviction.
Previously, High Court Judge Justice Alice Loke had dismissed Najib’s application on Dec 22, ruling that the Federal Territories Pardons Board had advised on a full pardon and a 50% reduction of his prison sentence, but made no reference to house arrest during its proceedings.
She noted that the King had only approved a reduction in sentence and fine, without any provision for home detention.
In a separate development, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah sentenced Najib on Dec 26 to 15 years’ imprisonment and imposed a RM11.387 billion fine following his conviction on 25 charges linked to the 1MDB scandal. The court ordered the sentence to commence in 2028, after he completes his six-year SRC International prison term.
Najib was found guilty of four charges of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds deposited into his AmBank accounts between 2011 and 2014. The sentences for abuse of power were ordered to run concurrently, while the money laundering sentences were also to run concurrently alongside a recoverable RM2.08 billion order.
