KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian court on Wednesday threw out a bid by disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest, months after the pardons board halved his 12-year sentence for stealing millions of United States dollars from a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Najib had applied for court approval to challenge the government regarding a document his legal team said was signed by the country's former king, allowing him to swap his stay at Kajang Prison for the comfort of his own home.
Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the government had no legal obligation to respond to Najib's application, dismissing supporting affidavits filed by two leaders of his Umno party as "hearsay", his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said.
Najib can still take his appeal to a higher court after Wednesday's ruling.
"The decision today was very disappointing," Shafee told reporters at a news conference after the hearing. "I completely do not agree with the decision as it was wrong, but it was the decision of the court."
Najib's defence team said they will appeal the decision and may consider filing a separate writ to compel the government to respond.
The application for house arrest drew swift backlash from a public still reeling from the January decision to halve Najib's jail term and slash his fine from 210 million ringgit (US$44.5 million) to 50 million ringgit. Malaysia's then-king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah made the move in one of his final acts before completing his five-year term on the throne.
Najib began his sentence in August 2022 after being convicted of stealing 42 million ringgit from a former unit of 1MDB.
His reduced sentence and attempt at securing house arrest have weighed on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who critics say has compromised his reform agenda in favour of political expediency by working with Najib's party and erstwhile rivals Umno.
Last year, the courts dropped dozens of corruption charges against Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is Umno president and formerly Najib's deputy while the party was still in power.
"With Najib remaining in prison, PH leaders can breathe a sigh of relief at least for the time being," political analyst Adib Zalkapli said, referring to Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition.
But experts say the damage has already been inflicted on Anwar and his administration. The government has been walking a tightrope, trying to appease the public while also quelling internal discord - regardless of the court's eventual ruling.
"Anwar is only as secure as the support he gets, not just politically, but from institutions such as the [national palace] and from within the civil service," said Aziff Azuddin, a research associate with Kuala Lumpur-based think tank Iman Research.
Najib still faces at least three more trials linked to 1MDB, from which at least US$4.5 billion is thought to have been looted, according to Malaysian investigators and the US Department of Justice.
American prosecutors described the scandal at 1MDB, the state fund founded in 2009 just months after Najib became prime minister, as the largest case of kleptocracy ever uncovered.
Traffic passes a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) billboard at the Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (File photo: Reuters)