KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Malaysia’s top court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by the attorney-general to block jailed ex-premier Najib Razak from pursuing access to a royal document that he says would allow him to serve his sentence at home.
Najib, imprisoned since August 2022 for his role in the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal, has said that an addendum order was issued last year as part of a royal pardon by then-king Al-Sultan Abdullah that halved the former premier’s jail sentence from 12 years to six.
Najib has since been seeking to confirm the existence of and execute the royal order.
The case has stirred intrigue in Malaysia, with multiple government authorities, including members of the pardons board, for months denying knowledge of the royal document despite the former king’s office confirming it had been issued.
A three-member panel of the Federal Court, in a unanimous decision on Wednesday, said it accepted the existence of the addendum order, but was not in a position to determine if it was authentic or truly issued as part of the royal pardon.
“We remit the case to the High Court for the hearing of the substantive judicial review proceedings before a new judge,” Federal Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof said.
Najib was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Although some 1MDB-linked charges against him have been dropped, Najib is still awaiting a verdict in the biggest trial he faces over the scandal, with the court expected to hear closing arguments in October.
He has denied all of the charges brought against him.
(Reporting by Danial Azhar; Writing by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by John Mair)
