Malaysia's King Warns Against Challenging His House Arrest Order for Najib
Sultan Ibrahim said his pardon letting the jailed ex-PM serve his sentence at home was clear, a day after authorities delayed Najib's transfer over legal questions.
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Malaysia's king warned on Saturday that any attempt to challenge his order letting former Prime Minister Najib Razak move from jail to house arrest could amount to defying his decree, a day after authorities delayed Najib's transfer.
Najib has been in jail since 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has consistently denied wrongdoing.
He was due to be transferred home on Friday, after his party paid a 50-million-ringgit ($12-million) fine to fulfil a condition of a royal pardon issued by King Sultan Ibrahim in September that would allow him to serve his remaining two years at home.
However, the attorney-general's office suspended the transfer after it said questions had arisen over the legal interpretation of the royal pardon and a court order issued on Friday allowing Najib to leave jail.
PARDON ORDER WAS CLEAR, KING SAYS
Sultan Ibrahim said on Saturday his pardon order was "clear, explicit and without any ambiguity." He also said that the attorney-general and federal territories minister had attended the pardons board meeting after which the order was issued.
"There should therefore be no confusion over its interpretation, nor should there be prolonged uncertainty over the implementation of the decision that has been granted," the king said in a statement issued by the national palace.
The house arrest order applies only to Najib's first conviction.
He faces an additional 15 years in prison after being found guilty last year in another 1MDB-linked case, with the sentence set to begin after his stint in house arrest ends. Najib is appealing the verdict.
The attorney-general sought on Saturday an audience with the king to apologise and explain the legal questions arising from Friday's court order, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's office said in a statement.
The Attorney-General's Chambers had earlier rejected accusations by Najib's lawyers of executive overreach, saying it did not intend to disregard the king's pardon but wanted the court to clarify the order's effect on Najib's sentences.
The king, a position held in rotation by Malaysia's nine regional sultans, plays a largely ceremonial role but has the authority to grant pardons, under discretionary powers granted by the constitution.
Malaysians hold the monarch and the country's other sultans in deep respect. Negative remarks about the royalty can be prosecuted under the colonial-era Sedition Act.
($1 = 4.0560 ringgit)
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by William Mallard and Tomasz Janowski)
