Malaysia's jailed ex-PM Najib withdraws appeal on house arrest

Appeal on house arrest withdrawn by Malaysia's jailed ex-PM Najib

Mohan Sinha
28 Apr 2026, 11:31 GMT+10

Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a court ruling denying him house arrest, local media The Edge reported on April 27.
Najib has been in jail since August 2022 after being convicted of corruption and money laundering in one of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.
On December 22, the Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected his request for house arrest, and he later appealed.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a court ruling denying him house arrest, local media The Edge reported on April 27.

Najib was found guilty of several corruption crimes linked to the huge 1MDB scandal.

He has been in jail since August 2022, serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of corruption and money laundering in one of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund he helped set up in 2009 when he was prime minister.

In 2024, after his sentence was reduced by a pardon board led by Malaysia's former king, Najib asked to serve the rest of his term at home. He claims the king had also issued an extra order allowing house arrest, but says authorities ignored it.

On December 22, the Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected his request for house arrest, and he later appealed. However, he has now withdrawn that appeal and cannot file a new one. The Court of Appeal confirmed the withdrawal, according to The Edge.

Najib's lawyers and the Attorney General's Chambers did not immediately comment.

This is another setback for him, as in December, he was given an additional 15-year jail sentence and fined US$2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering in the biggest 1MDB-related trial so far.

Investigators in Malaysia and the United States say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund, with over $1 billion allegedly going into accounts linked to Najib.

Najib has always denied any wrongdoing but has apologized for how the scandal was handled.