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Malaysia 1MDB scandal
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1MDB scandal: ex-PM Najib Razak’s 12-year prison sentence halved by Malaysia’s pardons board

  • Najib was jailed in 2022 after being convicted of corruption linked to the state fund. He still faces at least three other 1MDB-associated trials
  • The decision, which means he could now be eligible for release as early as next year, drew immediate public anger

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Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak leaves a court in Kuala Lumpur last month escorted by prison officials. Photo: Reuters
Hadi AzmiandJoseph Sipalan
Malaysia’s pardons board on Friday said it had halved the 12-year jail term of disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak, meaning he could be eligible for release on parole next year from a corruption sentence linked to the plunder of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
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The decision to slash the sentence was made by the board, which was chaired by former King Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in his last official duty before passing on Malaysia’s rotating monarchy earlier this week.
Najib was jailed in 2022 and has so far served 16 months of his term in Kajang prison outside Kuala Lumpur.

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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting

The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting

The 70-year-old “was given a 50 per cent reduction for the punishment and fines to be paid”, the pardons board said in its statement, adding it had “been agreed” that he should be granted early release no later than August 23, 2028, with his 210 million-ringgit (US$44.4 million) fine reduced to 50 million ringgit.

Najib could now be eligible for release next year under Malaysia’s Prisons Act, which says prisoners can apply for parole after serving half of their sentence. He will hit half of the revised six-year tariff at the end of 2025.

The decision, teased across the week by the media and ministers, drew immediate public anger, with some questioning how the country could operate on “two tracks of justice”.

“Feudalism plays a part in making sure some entrenched interest gets the better of society,” Jalil Rasheed, the former chief executive of state investment fund PNB, posted on X.

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