Former Malaysian PM Najib Withdraws Appeal Against House Arrest Ruling: Report |
ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia
Former Malaysian PM Najib Withdraws Appeal Against House Arrest Ruling: Report
The decision is a setback for the ex-leader, who was recently sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison for his central involvement in the 1MDB corruption scandal.
A cutout mocking Malaysia`s former Prime Minister Najib Razak on a wall in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Imprisoned former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a court ruling denying his request to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, according to a local media report.
Najib, 72, has been imprisoned since August 2022 for his role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal.
The Edge, a Malaysian news outlet, reported yesterday that Najib is “withdrawing his appeal” challenging a December 22 ruling of the High Court, which dismissed his application to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
The publication cited an April 3 letter from Najib’s defense team to the Court of Appeal, stating that he was “discontinuing his appeal against all respondents without liberty to file afresh,” in The Edge’s words. The Court reportedly acknowledged the withdrawal in a letter on April 6.
The 1MDB state investment fund was established shortly after Najib’s election in 2009. In the ensuing years, Malaysian investigators claim, at least $4.5 billion was drained from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through a labyrinth of dummy corporations and bank accounts across the globe. The 1MDB scandal helped bring down Najib’s government in the 2018 general election, and has since led to criminal investigations in a number of other countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore.
In 2020, Najib was found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering for illegally receiving around $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. In August 2022, he lost his final appeal against his conviction and began his 12-year sentence at Kajang prison in Selangor.
Since then, Najib, who has denied any wrongdoing and apologized for his mishandling of the 1MDB fund, has attempted a number of legal and political........