Najib Razak denied stay of 15-year 1MDB prison sentence by Malaysian court

A Malaysian court has dismissed a bid by former Prime Minister Najib Razak to halt a 15-year prison sentence linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.

The ruling comes despite recent developments that had paved the way for Najib to potentially serve the remainder of an earlier sentence under house arrest following a royal pardon.

Najib, who has been behind bars since 2022, was sentenced in December to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.8 billion in fines after being found guilty of money laundering and abuse of power in a separate legal proceeding. His legal team had petitioned the court to freeze the implementation of that sentence while an appeal is underway, pointing to his deteriorating health and asserting that the financial penalties were impossible for him to pay.

Judge Noor Ruwena Md Nordin rejected the petition, ruling that the defense had failed to present special circumstances that would justify a stay. She emphasized that the serious nature of the charges represents a paramount public interest that the judiciary must uphold. Following the dismissal, defense counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah indicated that an appeal against the decision would be brought before the Court of Appeal.

The state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad was established by Najib in 2009 during his tenure as prime minister. Investigators in the United States have estimated that roughly $4.5 billion was illicitly drained from the fund through an intricate international network, with over $1 billion flowing into accounts tied to Najib. The former premier has maintained his innocence, claiming he was misled regarding the origins of the money.

Najib had secured a reduction of his original 12-year sentence to six years by Malaysia's previous monarch in 2024, followed by a second royal pardon last month permitting him to spend the remainder of that term under house arrest. However, that transfer remains contingent on paying a fine of 50 million ringgit, equivalent to roughly $12.25 million.

His 15-year term is scheduled to take effect once the initial sentence concludes in August 2028. Najib has stated that frozen bank accounts prevent him from settling the fine, prompting his political party, the United Malays National Organisation, to organize a fundraising campaign among supporters.

The clemency decisions have sparked political tensions within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's coalition government. Anthony Loke, who heads the Democratic Action Party—the coalition's largest member—tendered his resignation as transport minister following the pardon announcement, though he stated he would remain in the cabinet until Najib's transition to house arrest takes place.