State Pardon: Malaysia Reduces Sentence Of Former PM Najib

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence for corruption has been halved by the country’s pardons board.

Najib was jailed in 2022 over the embezzlement of Malaysia’s State-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The board also reduced the fine imposed on him to 50m ringgit (£8.3m; $10.5m) from the original 210m ringgit.

Najib must pay this in full to secure his release in August 2028.

If he fails to pay, his sentence will be extended for another year until 2029.

He was convicted in 2020 after spending two years appealing his conviction before the courts.

The jailing of such a senior figure in Asian politics at that time caused major ripples across South East Asia. It was held up as a rare example of accountability in a region where power is so often unaccountable.

However on Tuesday, reports emerged that Malaysia’s pardons board had met on the last day of the King’s tenure to consider Najib’s application for release.

Malaysia has a rotating monarchy – King Abdullah Ahmad Shah passed the reins to Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar on Wednesday.

The reduced sentence sends a message that leaders in South East Asia act with impunity, said James Chin, professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania.

BBC