The withdrawal ends the former prime minister’s attempt to serve out his SRC sentence at home after his jail term was halved in 2024
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenUshar DanielePublished: 3:30pm, 27 Apr 2026Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has dropped his legal bid to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest, closing off a closely watched appeal tied to his 2024 royal pardon.Najib, 72, is serving a six-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison after his original 12-year term for the misappropriation of 42 million ringgit (US$10.6 million) from SRC International was halved by the Pardons Board in 2024.
The house-arrest dispute centred on Najib’s claim that an “addendum order” issued alongside his sentence reduction had allowed him to serve the rest of his jail term at home – an assertion that has fuelled debate in Malaysia over royal pardons, executive accountability and whether the former leader was receiving preferential treatment.
According to court documents, lawyers from Shafee & Co informed the Court of Appeal on April 3 that Najib had filed a notice of discontinuance for the appeal.
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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fightingThe notice, dated April 2, said Najib had decided not to pursue his appeal for house arrest, giving no reason for the withdrawal.
