Najib House Arrest Order Clouds Release Question, Home Minister Warns of Wrongful Detention Risk

On Nov 9, in Klebang, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters that sending former prime minister Najib Razak to house arrest could expose the authorities to a claim of wrongful detention, unless the legal meaning of a court's order of "discharge" is settled first.

The problem, as Saifuddin laid it out, comes down to two readings that do not sit easily together. One is the Pardons Board's decision that Najib serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. The other is a court order of discharge, which he said could mean Najib must be released from prison custody altogether.

The consequences of each reading differ sharply. If the court says discharge means release, Saifuddin said, the Prisons Department must release Najib under that order. But if he is instead sent to house arrest, he said, it could become wrongful detention. "It could happen," he told reporters.

He was careful to say that the Home Ministry was not pushing back against the Pardons Board or against the Malaysian King's exercise of his constitutional powers. The ministry, he said, had received the letter from the Pardons Board's secretary and would comply with the decision. By his account, that decision includes placing Najib under house arrest after he pays RM50 million (S$15.8 million). "There is not one sentence, one comma or one matter that we have changed," he said, adding that the ministry respects and will comply with the board's decision.

Saifuddin also explained why the distinction matters in practice. Under house arrest, he said, Najib would still be serving the remainder of his sentence, with the Prisons Department keeping authority over him at a gazetted residence instead of at Kajang Prison. A full release is different: if the court's use of "discharge" amounted to one, the department would no longer hold that authority. "House arrest and release are different," he said, asking how the ministry is meant to act when the discharge order says one thing and the Pardons Board another.

His proposed way out is to let the courts decide. The Attorney-General has been asked for an opinion, he said, and the question will be brought before the courts. "When there are two interpretations, the court is the best platform," he said, adding that the Home Ministry will comply with and respect whatever the court decides.

Najib is serving his sentence following his conviction in the SRC International case. Saifuddin noted that he has also been convicted in a separate case linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), and that Najib has used the legal appeal process to exercise his rights.

What to watch next is the Attorney-General's opinion and the court proceedings Saifuddin says will follow. Until they settle whether "discharge" means release or something narrower, the question of where Najib spends the rest of his sentence stays open.