The Home Ministry and Prisons Department are still waiting for the official written notification of the Pardons Board’s decision allowing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the letter had yet to be received from the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department, which serves as the Pardons Board’s secretariat.
He said the ministry could only determine its next steps and begin implementing the decision once the official notification was received.
“As of now, we have not received anything,” he told reporters in Kulim, Kedah, today.
Saifuddin said the letter would also clarify whether the Pardons Board had specified the premises where Najib would serve his house arrest or left the matter to the Prisons Department.
“I need to see the letter first. Currently, Datuk Seri Najib is serving his prison sentence. House arrest means he will not be in prison but at another premises, and there are naturally processes to follow. That is why I said I want to see the letter first,” he said.
He said the ministry would also examine whether the board had issued any additional instructions or delegated authority to the Prisons Department.
“Based on that letter, we will see whether it is limited to the decision of the Pardons Board, or whether the Board has also given further authority to the Prisons Department. We will examine all of that,” he said.
Saifuddin said Najib remained in prison for the time being, adding that the house arrest arrangement would require the relevant procedures to be followed. The Pardons Board announced on Sept 18 that Najib could serve his remaining sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to a RM50 million fine.
He also referred to the board’s earlier decision to reduce Najib’s original 12-year prison sentence to six years and his RM210 million fine to RM50 million.
Saifuddin said the ministry had subsequently informed Najib that paying the reduced RM50 million fine would result in a release date of Aug 23, 2028, while failure to pay would mean a release date of Aug 23, 2029.
He said Malaysia currently had no specific law governing house arrest.
According to Saifuddin, he had previously obtained Cabinet agreement in principle to begin drafting a House Arrest Act, although the proposal was initially intended to address prison overcrowding, particularly involving remand prisoners.
Malaysia currently has 41 prisons housing about 93,000 inmates, compared with a total capacity of around 75,000, he said.
Under the proposed mechanism, remand prisoners could potentially be placed under house arrest and monitored using modern electronic devices until their trials.
