Najib’s son says ex-PM was packing up in jail, ready for house arrest before High Court ruling

The eldest son of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has revealed that his father had already begun packing his belongings in prison, hoping he would be allowed to return home under house arrest, only for those hopes to be dashed by a High Court ruling.

In a Facebook video posted after the court's decision, Nizar Najib shared that he had met his father earlier in the day and found him in good spirits.

He recalled, describing the optimism Najib had ahead of the court’s decision:

“When I met my father earlier, I saw that he was cheerful in the morning and had begun packing some of his belongings.”

Deeply disappointing day

Nizar said he and his siblings had attended the court proceedings prepared to accept any outcome, noting that the family had endured repeated disappointments throughout years of legal battles.

“Today's decision is very disappointing and hurt our hearts as a family,” he wrote, adding that while they had hoped for good news, the ruling ultimately did not favour his father.

On Monday (Dec. 22), High Court judge Alice Loke dismissed Najib’s judicial review application, ruling that an alleged royal addendum called the "Titah Addendum", which Najib’s camp said would allow him to serve his sentence under house arrest, did not comply with the procedures outlined under Article 42 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution, according to Malaysiakini.

The judge held that such matters should have been brought before the Pardons Board, Nizar said in the video.

Najib has been imprisoned since 2020 after being convicted in the SRC International case, making him the first former Malaysian prime minister to be jailed for corruption.

Royal addendum

Nizar mentioned that the family had been fighting for Najib’s house arrest since early last year and claimed that he had personally received a copy of the royal addendum from the Sultan of Pahang, the previous Agong.

He said, expressing frustration that its existence was “concealed” and only acknowledged after Najib’s lawyers filed for a judicial review:

“The document does exist. The decree was indeed issued to grant Najib Razak house arrest."

“Once its existence was confirmed, we were then faced with today’s decision, in which the decree was deemed invalid," he continued.

He added that what hurt the family most was seeing Najib’s hopes rise on the morning of the ruling, only for the decision to go against him.

Family will continue to fight

Despite the setback, Nizar said his family would continue to fight for Najib’s release.

“We will continue this struggle until justice is achieved,” he said. “Today’s setback does not mean we will lose forever.”

“We will continue to strive and will not stop here. This does not end today. We will persist in our efforts to defend my father until the day he is freed.”

The High Court’s decision had sparked political reactions across Malaysia.

One Malaysian MP who celebrated the rejection of Najib’s house arrest bid in a Facebook post was criticised by several UMNO leaders, who accused her of being insensitive and inflaming tensions.

Top images via Reuters, NizarNajibNN11/Facebook