Najib Razak's jail term halved, fine reduced

Feb 02, 2024 04:09 pm

Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak has had his jail term halved to six years, according to the Pardons Board in its press statement on Feb 2.

This means that Najib, who was sentenced in 2022 to 12-year imprisonment and fined RM210 million ($60 million) for graft, will be released on Aug 23, 2028.

His fine has also been reduced to RM50 million, which he has to pay by the end of his jail term. Failure to pay the fine in full will cause his jail term to be extended by a year, delaying his release date to Aug 23, 2029.

The 70-year-old is behind bars for graft linked to state fund 1MDB, from which an estimate of US$4.5 billion ($6 billion) was stolen and more than US$1 billion channelled to accounts linked to him.

Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing and applied for a royal pardon in August 2022.

The board, chaired by Malaysia’s king, did not give a reason for halving Najib’s sentence in its statement.