Kualalumpur(newsciews) Malaysia’s king warned on Saturday that any attempt to challenge his order letting former Prime Minister Najib Razak go from jail to house arrest could amount to defying his decree, a day after authorities delayed Najib’s transfer.

Najib has been in jail since 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.

He was due to be transferred home on Friday, after his party paid a 50-million-ringgit ($12-million) fine to fulfil a condition of a royal pardon issued by King Sultan Ibrahim in September that would allow him to serve his remaining two years at home.

The transfer, however, was suspended after the attorney-general’s office said questions had arisen over the legal interpretation of the royal pardon and a court order issued on Friday allowing Najib to leave jail. Sultan Ibrahim said on Saturday his pardon order was “clear, explicit and without any ambiguity”, noting that the attorney general and federal territories minister had attended the pardons board meeting at which the order was issued.

“There should therefore be no confusion over its interpretation, nor should there be prolonged uncertainty over the implementation of the decision that has been granted,” the king said in a statement issued by the national palace.

The AGC responded, however, to accusations by Najib’s lawyers of executive overreach, saying in a statement it was only seeking legal clarity and had “never disputed, set aside or intended to suspend the conditional pardon order granted by His Majesty.” “The AGC considers that the issue … should be referred immediately to the court for a clear determination and directions,” it said.

The king, a position held in rotation by Malaysia’s nine regional sultans, plays a largely ceremonial role in Malaysia but has the authority to grant pardons, according to discretionary powers under the constitution.

The monarch and the country’s other sultans are held in deep respect by Malaysians. Negative remarks about the royalty can be prosecuted under the colonial-era Sedition Act.

A brief exit

A day earlier, the attorney general’s office said it had sought a “temporary suspension of the execution of the house arrest” pending further investigation into the terms of Najib’s pardon, adding he would remain in prison.

“During this period, his detention status shall be maintained in his existing place of detention, subject to the powers and instructions of the relevant authorities,” it said. A repo­rter saw Najib on Friday leave the Kajang Prison compound in a silver car, followed by a convoy of vehicles.

Najib did not appear at his house, according to reporters, and a government minister said he was just out for a previously scheduled dental appo­intment. The same convoy that whis­ked Najib out of the prison compound returned more than four hours later under police escort, a reporter saw.

Money siphoned

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2020 in a first trial over vast sums of money siphoned from a former 1MDB subsidiary called SRC International Sdn Bhd. But a pardons board later halved the term, and his fine was reduced to $12.3 million. His sentence in this case is scheduled to be completed by August 2028.

Days after Najib’s December bid for house arrest was turned down, he was sentenced to another 15 years behind bars in a separate trial, also linked to the 1MDB scandal. Najib has also been fined 11.4 billion ringgit for his role in the corruption scandal, which took place more than a decade ago.

He is currently appealing the 15-year sentence, which is only set to start once the six-year sentence is completed. The son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, Najib was groomed for leadership from a young age but fell from power spectacularly as public anger mounted over the corruption scandal.

Investigations under successive governments have ensnared him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, in graft allegations since his loss in 2018 elections. Prosecutors said Najib abused his positions as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move vast sums from the fund into his personal accounts.

According to investigators, proceeds from the fund were used to bankroll high-end real estate, a luxury yacht and precious artworks, including a Monet and a Van Gogh.