The key facts

  • UMNO raised 50 million ringgit ($12.3 million) through a donation campaign
  • King of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim granted the pardon in September on condition of paying a fine
  • House arrest does not extend to the 15-year sentence in the second 1MDB case, which is being appealed

Pardon condition fulfilled

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, serving a sentence in the corruption scandal case surrounding the state fund 1MDB, will leave prison and serve the remainder of his six-year term under house arrest. This became possible after his party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), raised 50 million ringgit ($12.3 million) through a donation campaign, the party's secretary-general Asraf Wajid Dusuki said on Friday. Reported by Deutsche Welle.

What is known about the pardon and the sentences

The exact moment of the official release was not announced, but according to AFP, cited by DW, Najib was seen leaving by car on Friday; police were stationed outside his home in Kuala Lumpur, and the approach to the residence was blocked. The King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim, granted the 73-year-old politician a rare royal pardon in September — on condition of paying 50 million ringgit. Najib was sentenced in 2020 to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving $10.3 million deposited into his accounts; the sentence was halved, and he began serving it in 2022.

The second sentence remains in force

A key clarification: house arrest applies only to the reduced six-year term in the first case. It does not cover the separate 15-year sentencehanded down in December 2025 for corruption and money laundering in a second case, also linked to the 1MDB scandal — in that case Najib was fined 11.4 billion ringgit, and he is appealing the verdict. If the appeal fails, he could return to prison after August 23, 2028.

Political context

The scandal surrounding 1MDB — a state investment fund of which Najib was a co-founder during his premiership from 2009 to 2018 — caused nationwide outrage in Malaysia and led to the defeat of UMNO in the 2018 elections, ending the rule of the party that had held power since the country's independence from Britain in 1957. Despite the guilty verdict, Najib retains influence within the party, which is part of the government formed in 2022 — this is precisely what explains why the party organized the fundraising for his release.