KUALA LUMPUR — The Prisons Department is still waiting for official notification about the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s conditional pardon and the terms and conditions involved.
Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said only after receiving such details can the ministry be clear “on the next steps to take” regarding implementation of the conditional pardon order that will see Najib serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, subject to paying a RM50 million fine.
“As of now, we have not received anything. Only upon receiving that notification will we be clear on the next steps to take—specifically, actions to implement the decision in accordance with existing legal provisions.
“I am still awaiting notification, usually from the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department, which serves as the secretariat for the Pardons Board,” he told reporters in Kulim, Kedah, today.
The Prisons Department, which is under the ministry, needs the pardons board’s official decision to be conveyed in writing, he added.
The location of Najib’s house arrest would also depend on the information in the conditions attached to the the board’s decision, Saifuddin Nasution also said.
“We will have to see whether the Pardons Board’s decision specifies a particular premise or leaves the matter to the Prisons Department. That is why I said I want to see the letter first.
“We will carefully examine the contents to determine whether the decision is strictly limited to the Board’s ruling or if the Board has also granted further authority to the Prison Department.”
Yesterday, the Federal Territories Pardons Board announced that Najib had been granted a conditional pardon by the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house detention until August 23, 2028, subject to payment of the RM50 million fine.
Besides the fine, Najib must also comply with all other conditions imposed, or the pardon may be revoked and he would be sent back to prison.
Various quarters have demanded transparency from the government on the other conditions to be imposed, as well as for the legal framework that allows house arrests.
Najib has, to date, served four years at Kajang Prison for corruption involving RM42 million of SRC International funds. In January 2024, the same pardons board halved his original prison sentence of 12 years and lowered the court’s RM210 million fine to RM50 million.
Saifuddin Nasution, meanwhile, reiterated that Malaysia has no legislation regarding house arrest.
“I had previously proposed creating such a law specifically for remand prisoners, as remand prisoners are the primary cause of prison overcrowding,” he said, adding that the mix of formal inmates and those in the remand category have caused prisons to be filled to overflowing.
Saifuddin Nasution said the cabinet had approved in principle to begin the process of tabling a house arrest bill in Parliament to address prison overcrowding.
“If the bill were passed, we could place remand prisoners under house arrest and use modern devices to monitor their movements until their trial dates. That was the original intent of our discussion,” he said. – September 19, 2026