In a country that has never before tried confining a convicted person to home in place of prison, Malaysia now faces the quiet work of writing the rules from scratch. Former prime minister Najib Razak, still behind the walls of Kajang Prison, waits on a royal pardon that would let him serve the rest of his SRC International sentence in his family home in Langgak Duta until August 2028, provided a RM50 million fine is paid. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution has said the Prisons Department is finalising those conditions, and the first version of this experiment will become the pattern the nation
Prisons Department Finalizes House Arrest Rules for Najib Razak's Conditional Pardon
Malaysia has never had house arrest before, so the rules are being written now
Mark
So what actually happened on Sunday? Nothing dramatic, but it seems to matter.
Mimi
The Home Minister said the Prisons Department is in the final stage of drafting the rules for Najib's house arrest. He was speaking at an AADK event in Felda Tenang and reporters asked him about it.
Mark
And where does the department get its authority to write them?
Mimi
From a letter by the Pardons Board secretariat. Saifuddin said it lets the department impose any conditions. That's a wide brief.
Luke
Careful, though. That description of the letter comes from the minister. We haven't seen the letter's text, so "any conditions" is his characterization.
Mark
Fair. Why is Najib still in Kajang, then?
Mimi
He hasn't paid the RM50mil fine. It's a condition of the pardon, so the house arrest can't start until it's settled.
Luke
And nothing in the reporting says when payment might happen. That's simply unknown.
Mark
What makes this unusual?
Mimi
Saifuddin said Malaysia has never had house arrest before. So the department is writing rules with no domestic precedent.
Luke
Also worth noting that the Langgak Duta residence detail comes from Najib's lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, not from the government. The ministry hasn't confirmed it here.
Mark
So what should we watch?
Mimi
Whether the fine is paid, and what the published regulations say. The pardon runs until Aug 23, 2028.
El Pulso
- Najib remains in Kajang Prison, and the house arrest that the King granted cannot start until a RM50mil fine is paid.
- Malaysia has no domestic precedent for home detention, so the Prisons Department is drafting regulations with no template to follow.
- The Pardons Board has given the department broad latitude to impose any conditions it sees fit, leaving the shape of the arrangement open.
- Once the fine is settled and the rules are issued, the first home detention case will set the standard for how the country handles it.
In a country that has never before tried confining a convicted person to home in place of prison, Malaysia now faces the quiet work of writing the rules from scratch. Former prime minister Najib Razak, still behind the walls of Kajang Prison, waits on a royal pardon that would let him serve the rest of his SRC International sentence in his family home in Langgak Duta until August 2028, provided a RM50 million fine is paid. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution has said the Prisons Department is finalising those conditions, and the first version of this experiment will become the pattern the nation follows afterward.
On Sunday, October 18, in Felda Tenang, Jertih, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution told reporters that the Prisons Department is in the final phase of drafting rules for home detention. Those rules will govern how former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak serves the rest of his sentence at home rather than in prison. He spoke after launching anti-drug initiatives and was then asked about Najib's case.
The work follows a letter from the Pardons Board secretariat, which allows the department to impose any conditions it sees fit. Saifuddin was candid that the situation is unusual. Malaysia has never had house arrest before, and the department is building its regulations without any domestic precedent.
Najib has not yet gone home. He remains at Kajang Prison because he has not paid the RM50mil fine, a condition of the arrangement. The pardon from Sultan Ibrahim, granted last month, lets him finish his sentence at home until August 23, 2028, but nothing can begin until that payment is made. His lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has said his client expects to spend the remainder of the sentence with his family in Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur.
For now, two questions remain open: when the fine will be paid, and what the regulations will ultimately require. Because the country has no earlier experience with house arrest, those rules will shape how it works for anyone who follows.
On Sunday, Oct 18, in Felda Tenang, Jertih, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told reporters that Malaysia's Prisons Department is in the final phase of drafting the rules for home detention. The regulations are meant to govern how former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak serves the rest of his prison sentence at home.
Saifuddin spoke after officiating the launch of the Madani Adopted Village and Madani Adopted School initiatives of the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK). The questions he took afterward turned to Najib's case.
The minister said the work follows a letter from the Pardons Board secretariat to the Prisons Department. According to him, the letter states that the department may impose any conditions it sees fit on the house arrest. That leaves the department to build a set of regulations from the ground up, and he said they are being worked on now.
He was frank about how unusual this is. Malaysia has never had house arrest before, he said, and then, in his words, it suddenly arrived. The department is therefore writing rules for an arrangement with no domestic precedent.
Najib has not yet gone home. Saifuddin said he remains at Kajang Prison because he has not paid the RM50mil fine, which is one of the conditions attached to serving out his sentence under house arrest. Until that is settled, the arrangement cannot begin.
The pardon itself came last month. His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, granted Najib a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to payment of the RM50mil fine.
Najib's lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said recently that his client would spend the rest of his sentence for the SRC International case with his family at his residence in Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, under the home detention order granted by the King.
Two things remain to be seen: whether and when the fine is paid, and what the Prisons Department's regulations will say once they are issued. Because the country has no earlier experience with house arrest, those rules will set the template for how it works in Malaysia. (Source: Bernama)
Citas Notables
The Prisons Department is in the final phase of drafting the regulations; the Pardons Board letter says it can impose any conditions.— Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail
Najib will spend the rest of his SRC International sentence with his family at his Langgak Duta residence.— Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib's lead counsel
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