Najib Razak to Serve Rest of Sentence Under House Arrest as Malaysian Court Issues Fresh Order

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak will serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest, after a Kuala Lumpur court issued a fresh order on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, clearing up the legal confusion that sent him back to prison just four days earlier.

The High Court ruled that Najib, 73, will spend the remainder of his reduced six-year sentence at his home in the Taman Duta area of Kuala Lumpur, until 23 August 2028. The decision ends — for now — a strange few days in Malaysian politics, in which the former leader walked out of prison a free man on Friday, only to be taken back into custody hours later.

But the ruling does not mean Najib is a free man. The same court order says he must return to Kajang Prison on 24 August 2028 to begin a separate 15-year prison sentence handed down in a second major trial linked to the 1MDB scandal.

What the court decided today

The Kuala Lumpur High Court heard an application from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, known as the AGC, asking it to review the discharge order it had issued on 6 November. That order had been made after Najib’s political party, UMNO, paid a fine of RM50 million — about US$12.3 million — on his behalf.

Justice Aslam Zainuddin agreed with the Attorney-General’s request. He annulled the 6 November order and replaced it entirely with a new one.

“The order of discharge on payment of fine dated Nov 6 is hereby annulled and fully replaced by the following order,” the judge said, according to reports from the court. “In line with the conditional pardon [granted by the king], the accused is to serve the remainder of his reduced six-year jail term under house arrest at 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur until Aug 23, 2028.”

The new order also spells out what happens when the house arrest ends. Najib is to be transferred back to Kajang Prison on 24 August 2028 to serve the sentence imposed on him in the 1MDB case — a separate 15-year term for corruption and money laundering handed down in December 2025.

The Attorney-General, Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, had filed the application earlier on Tuesday, asking the court to review the 6 November order and issue a fresh one that matched the conditional pardon granted by Malaysia’s king, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, on 18 September 2026.

“The AGC filed an application at the High Court today to review the discharge order issued on Nov 6 and seek a fresh order in line with the conditional pardon granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Sept 18,” Dusuki said.

A weekend of confusion: how we got here

To understand today’s ruling, it helps to go back to Friday, 6 November — a day of high drama in Kuala Lumpur.

That morning, UMNO paid the RM50 million fine at the High Court’s payment counter. The money came from a solidarity fund the party had launched for its former president. Paying the fine was the last condition of the royal pardon granted in September, which allowed Najib to serve the rest of his sentence at home instead of in prison.

The High Court then issued an order of discharge, and Najib walked out of Kajang Prison, where he had been held since August 2022. For a few hours, it looked as if the former prime minister was finally going home.

But the Attorney-General’s Chambers quickly stepped in. It raised questions about the discharge order, saying it contained errors and needed legal clarification. Najib was brought back to prison the same day, only hours after his release.

The AGC said the issues involved “complex legal questions” that affected how the royal pardon and the court order should be carried out. It stressed that it was not disputing or defying the king’s pardon, and said claims that it had insulted the king or committed treason were baseless.

On Monday, the local newspaper Berita Harian reported that the Attorney-General believed the 6 November order contained obvious errors or defects. On Tuesday, the AGC went to court to fix them.

In its written application, prosecutors asked the court to replace the 6 November order with new terms making two things clear: first, that Najib’s remaining sentence in the SRC International case would be served under house arrest until 23 August 2028; and second, that he would then return to Kajang Prison to serve his separate 1MDB sentence.

Deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul told the court the original discharge order had errors in the court descriptions, the conviction date, the offence descriptions, the fine, the imprisonment date and the prison warrant.

Justice Aslam Zainuddin granted the application and issued the corrected order. Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, appeared before the court during the hearing.

For the full story of Friday’s dramatic reversal, read our earlier report: Najib Razak’s House Arrest Halted Hours After RM50 Million Fine Was Paid.

The SRC International case, explained simply

Najib Razak was Malaysia’s prime minister from 2009 to 2018. In August 2022, he became the country’s first former prime minister to go to prison, after the courts found him guilty of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International.

SRC International was a company that had once been part of 1MDB, Malaysia’s state investment fund. Prosecutors said Najib abused his power, committed criminal breach of trust and laundered money by funnelling RM42 million from SRC into his personal bank accounts. Najib has always denied wrongdoing, saying he believed the money was a donation from Saudi royalty.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million. But in February 2024, Malaysia’s Pardons Board halved his jail term to six years and cut the fine to RM50 million.

Then, on 18 September 2026, the current king, Sultan Ibrahim, granted Najib a further conditional pardon. Under its terms, Najib could serve the rest of his six-year sentence under house arrest — but only until 23 August 2028, and only if he paid the RM50 million fine.

That is the pardon today’s court order puts into effect.

The 1MDB scandal behind it all

The SRC case is only one part of a much bigger story: the 1MDB scandal, one of the largest financial scandals in the world.

1MDB — short for 1Malaysia Development Berhad — was a state investment fund set up in 2009, during Najib’s time as prime minister, supposedly to drive economic development in Malaysia. Instead, investigators in several countries found that billions of dollars were siphoned out of the fund through a web of shell companies and offshore accounts, and spent on luxury property, art, a superyacht and even the financing of a Hollywood film.

The scandal helped bring down Najib’s government in the 2018 general election, the first time the coalition that had ruled Malaysia since independence lost power.

In December 2025, Najib was convicted in a second major trial tied directly to 1MDB and sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption and money laundering. It is that sentence he will have to serve after his house arrest ends in August 2028.

The house arrest order granted today applies only to the SRC case. It does not cover the 1MDB sentence.

Why this matters for Malaysia

Najib remains one of the most divisive figures in Malaysian politics. To his supporters in UMNO, he is a former leader who deserves mercy after years behind bars — the party raised the RM50 million fine through a public solidarity fund, a show of loyalty that surprised even some of his critics.

To his critics, the royal pardon and the move to house arrest look like special treatment for a powerful politician convicted of stealing public money. The fact that the process stumbled so publicly on Friday — with Najib freed and then returned to prison within hours — only added to the sense that Malaysia’s legal and political systems were struggling to handle the case cleanly.

The confusion also put the Attorney-General’s Chambers in an awkward spot. It had to explain why it was blocking the release of a man the king had pardoned, while insisting it was not challenging the pardon itself. Today’s court ruling gives the process a cleaner legal footing, because the new order is now written to match the king’s pardon exactly.

For Malaysia’s government, the case is a test of whether the country’s institutions can treat a former prime minister the same way they would treat anyone else. For UMNO, which is part of the current ruling coalition, Najib’s fate is also a live political question: the party wants its former leader home, but it also has to govern alongside partners who are less sympathetic to him.

What happens next

With the fresh court order in place, Najib is expected to leave Kajang Prison and move to his home at 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, in Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur, where he will serve the rest of his SRC sentence under house arrest until 23 August 2028.

House arrest in Malaysia means he will live at home rather than in a prison cell, but his freedom will still be restricted. The exact conditions — such as whether he can receive visitors, leave the house or make public statements — are set by the terms of the pardon and the prison authorities.

The bigger date on the calendar is 24 August 2028. On that day, under today’s order, Najib must return to Kajang Prison to begin his 15-year sentence from the 1MDB trial. Unless he receives another pardon or his legal team wins an appeal in that case, he could spend many more years behind bars.

His lawyers are expected to continue challenging the 1MDB conviction. And in Malaysian politics, where royal pardons have already reshaped Najib’s fate twice — first in 2024, then again in September 2026 — few people expect this to be the last twist in the story.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Najib Razak under house arrest instead of in prison?

Malaysia’s king granted him a conditional pardon on 18 September 2026, allowing him to serve the rest of his reduced six-year sentence for the SRC International case at home, until 23 August 2028, on condition that he paid a RM50 million fine. The fine was paid on 6 November 2026, and the High Court issued a corrected order on 10 November 2026 putting the pardon into effect.

How long will the house arrest last?

Until 23 August 2028. After that, Najib must return to Kajang Prison on 24 August 2028 to serve a separate 15-year sentence from the 1MDB trial.

What was Najib convicted of?

In the SRC International case, he was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million from the company, a former part of the 1MDB state fund. He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison, later halved to six years. In a separate trial in December 2025, he was sentenced to 15 years for corruption and money laundering linked directly to 1MDB.

Why was he sent back to prison on 6 November, hours after being freed?

The Attorney-General’s Chambers said the discharge order issued that day contained errors and needed clarification before the house arrest could go ahead. The High Court agreed, annulled that order and issued a corrected one on 10 November.

Where will he serve the house arrest?

At his home at 11, Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur.

Is Najib now a free man?

No. He is still serving a prison sentence, just at home instead of in a cell, and only for the SRC case. He still faces 15 years in prison from the 1MDB case starting in August 2028.

Conclusion

Tuesday’s court order brings a messy chapter in the Najib Razak saga to a close — but it does not end the story. The former prime minister is going home, as the king’s pardon intended, and the legal paperwork now matches the pardon it is supposed to carry out.

Yet the house arrest is limited, temporary and conditional. It covers only one of his two convictions, it ends in less than two years, and a 15-year sentence is waiting the day after it finishes. For Najib’s supporters, today is a moment of relief. For his critics, it is a reminder that Malaysia’s most famous corruption case still has a long way to run — and that the final chapter may not be written until well into the next decade.

Sources

• Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysian-attorney-general-seeks-high-court-review-najib-house-arrest-order-2026-11-10/
• Channel News Asia: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-ex-pm-najib-razak-released-prison-house-arrest-royal-pardon-6538231
• Malay Mail: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/11/10/ag-courts-asked-to-issue-new-house-arrest-order-for-najib/242687
• Malay Mail: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/11/10/in-application-granted-by-high-court-today-agc-sought-order-for-najibs-return-to-kajang-prison-after-house-arrest-ends-in-2028/242743
• Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/11/10/najib-transferred-to-house-arrest-as-court-issues-fresh-order
• Free Malaysia Today: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/11/10/agc-files-application-to-review-najib-s-discharge-order
• The Malaysian Reserve: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2026/11/10/agc-files-application-to-review-najibs-discharge-order/

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.