The decision on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s latest application for royal clemency has been deferred after the Federal Territories Pardons Board met on Friday, prolonging uncertainty over his bid for relief from his imprisonment.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim, who chairs the Pardons Board, deferred a decision on Najib’s application, while 65 other prisoners were granted pardons at the meeting, according to reports. No new date for a decision on Najib’s application was immediately disclosed.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh, who sits on the board, had confirmed that the meeting would be held at 8.30am on Sept 11, but declined beforehand to disclose its agenda.
Najib, 72, has been incarcerated since Aug 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction in the SRC International case involving the misappropriation of RM42 million.
He was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million. In 2024, the Federal Territories Pardons Board reduced his jail term to six years and lowered the fine to RM50 million.
Najib subsequently maintained that an additional royal order had allowed him to serve the remainder of the sentence under house arrest. The High Court rejected his legal bid to enforce the alleged addendum in December 2025, and he withdrew an appeal against that decision in April this year.
The application has also become a politically sensitive issue within the federal government coalition.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) said earlier this week that those convicted in high-profile corruption and abuse-of-power cases should serve the sentences imposed by the courts, while stressing the importance of allowing judicial processes to proceed without interference. The coalition did not specifically name Najib in its statement.
UMNO, meanwhile, criticised PH’s position and stressed that the constitutional authority to grant pardons rests with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
