Malaysian court sets December 5 to hear Najib’s ‘house arrest’ case

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ANN/THE STAR – The Court of Appeal has set December 5 to hear Najib Razak’s appeal over the dismissal of his leave application for a judicial review regarding an alleged addendum on house arrest.

Najib claimed that the addendum was issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong to allow him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed the hearing date.

The 71-year-old former prime minister’s application was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 3, which found that the four affidavits supporting his claim, including those from United Malays National Organisation president Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice-president Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, were hearsay.

Following the dismissal, Najib filed a notice of appeal on July 9.

He named seven respondents in his application.

In his application filed in April this year, Najib is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to respond and confirm the existence of the decree dated January 29.

He also requests that if the additional decree exists, the respondents must enforce it and transfer him immediately from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest. Najib has been incarcerated in Kajang Prison since August 23, 2022, after being convicted of embezzling MYR42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak. PHOTO: THE STAR