Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has withdrawn his appeal against a High Court decision rejecting his application to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
According to court documents cited by local media, Najib’s legal firm, Shafee & Co, filed a Notice for Discontinuance at the Court of Appeal on April 3, formally ending the appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling delivered on Dec 22 last year.
The Court of Appeal subsequently acknowledged the withdrawal, which was made without liberty to file a fresh appeal. No reason for the withdrawal was stated in the filing.
Najib is currently serving a six-year jail sentence at Kajang Prison after being convicted in August 2022 of graft and money laundering offences linked to the SRC International case, one of several prosecutions arising from the multibillion-ringgit 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
The former premier had sought to serve the remainder of his sentence at home following a 2024 decision by the Pardons Board, chaired by Malaysia’s former king, which reduced his original 12-year prison term by half.
Najib argued that the board’s decision was accompanied by an addendum order issued by the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong that would allow him to complete the rest of his sentence under home detention.
He claimed the alleged addendum had been ignored by prison authorities and the government, prompting his legal challenge.
However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed the application in December, ruling against his bid for house arrest. Najib then filed an appeal, which has now been discontinued.
Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and played a central role in the establishment of 1MDB, the state investment fund that later became the subject of global investigations over the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars.
The scandal triggered investigations across multiple jurisdictions and remains one of Malaysia’s largest corruption cases.
Neither Najib’s lawyers nor the Attorney General’s Chambers had issued immediate
