Malaysia court dismisses jailed ex-PM Najib’s bid to serve sentence under house arrest

A MALAYSIAN court dismissed jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s legal bid to obtain a document that he said would allow him to serve his remaining prison sentence under house arrest, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

In a judicial review application filed on April 1, Najib said an “addendum order” issued by the former king had accompanied a pardons board’s decision in February to halve his 12-year jail sentence for graft in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Najib had sought the court to compel the government to reply on or confirm the existence of the royal order, which he said would entitle him to serve the remainder of his term under house arrest, and to execute the order if it existed. REUTERS