Malaysia awaits court verdict on Najib’s house arrest bid in 1MDB case
Najib, 71, has aggressively lobbied for his release from jail, backed by a fiercely loyal political base and a controversial claim that a supplementary decree from the previous king authorised his release into house arrest. He began serving his term at Kajang Prison in 2022.
“Najib’s son Nizar has produced the sultan’s order. What is the government waiting for? Let Najib go home,” said Rosli Mamat, 42, a supporter from Najib’s home constituency of Pekan in Pahang state, as around 300 people gathered outside the Palace of Justice in administrative capital Putrajaya on Monday in a solidarity rally organised by Islamist party PAS.
Public sentiment regarding Najib’s release is far from favourable, however. Many Malaysians recall the 2018 elections that ousted him and his once-mighty Umno party, fuelled by allegations of rampant corruption and the misappropriation of the 1MDB fund he established. The scandal, which has inspired a Netflix series and numerous books, laid bare systemic corruption at the highest levels of power in Malaysia.
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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting