Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has paid his RM50 million SRC International fine and departed from Kajang Prison when the Attorney-General’s Chambers called for his house arrest to be temporarily suspended.
The latest development has left Najib's immediate detention arrangements uncertain, despite a federal gazette declaring his Jalan Langgak Duta residence a prison.
This concludes Malaysiakini's live reports for now. We will continue to follow the developments and bring you the latest updates as the situation unfolds. Stay with us for continuing coverage.
Suspend Najib's house arrest, AGC says
5.55pm: The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) says former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s house arrest should be temporarily suspended.
In a statement, the AGC says further study and clarification are needed to determine the interpretation of the conditional pardon and its legal implications.
It adds that, pending this, Najib’s detention status should remain unchanged, with him staying at his “existing place of detention”, understood to be Kajang Prison, subject to the powers and directives of the relevant authorities.
A victory for Najib supporters
5:15pm: One of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s supporters, who identified herself only as Nuriah, thanked Umno leaders and donors who she claimed had helped secure the implementation of his house arrest order.
She described the development as a major victory for Najib’s supporters.
“Alhamdulillah, on this blessed Friday, we, representing all of Najib’s supporters, are finally able to (witness) the home detention order.
“I would like to extend a thousand thanks to the entire Umno leadership and the contributors. This time we won big,” she said.
Nuriah was speaking to reporters outside Najib’s residence at Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, where the former Umno president was expected to begin serving his house arrest order today.
Najib's house gazetted as a prison
5.10pm: Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 4,558.97-square-metre (49,072-square-foot) home at Jalan Langgak Duta has been declared a prison.
According to a federal government gazette dated today, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail exercised his powers under Section 3 of the Prisons Act 1995 to declare the property a prison.
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The gazette states that the declaration is for the “imprisonment or detention of persons lawfully in custody”.
Loke to hold press conference
4.30pm: Transport Minister Anthony Loke is scheduled to hold a press conference at the Transport Ministry’s headquarters in Putrajaya at 5pm.
The media invitation for the event does not disclose what he will be addressing.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, at a separate function, urges Loke to fulfil his pledge to resign from his ministerial position once former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is released from prison.
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PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari also takes to Facebook to question what time Loke will be vacating his office.
Medical checkup first
3.40pm: Malaysiakini has been made to understand that Najib Abdul Razak is not heading straight home from Kajang Prison.
Instead, the former prime minister is reportedly being brought for a medical checkup before he can head back.
Initially, he was expected to arrive at Langgak Duta around 4pm, but a delay is likely.
It is not clear whether the heavy rain and traffic conditions will cause further delays.
Rain on the parade
3.30pm: It's pouring at Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur.
Heavy downpours have triggered flash floods and massive traffic jams throughout the Klang Valley in the past several days.
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Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak - who has been on the road for almost an hour now with a police escort - is expected to arrive home soon.
Anwar disagrees with Umno fundraiser
3.15pm: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says he does not agree with Umno’s decision to pay former party president Najib Abdul Razak’s RM50 million fine.
However, Anwar remarks that the matter is “Umno’s business”.
“Personally, I disagree because while we maintain a spirit of friendship (with Najib and Umno), it should not give the impression that corruption involving billions of ringgit can simply be overlooked,” New Straits Times quotes Anwar as saying.
Najib departs from prison
2.55pm: Najib Abdul Razak is on his way home.
A convoy transporting the former prime minister left Kajang Prison at 2.37pm.
Meanwhile, two Prison Department vans arrived at his Langgak Duta home around the same time.
Najib's lawyer at Kajang Prison
2.35pm: Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s lawyer Farhan Shafee is spotted arriving at the Kajang Prison in a white Audi.
He declined to speak with reporters when approached, the New Straits Times reports.
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The lawyer is believed to be meeting prison officers to deliver the High Court’s earlier order allowing Najib’s house arrest.
Call for audit into RM50m
1.30pm: Former DAP lawmaker Tony Pua calls for Bank Negara and the MACC to audit the crowdfunding initiative set up by Umno to pay former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s RM50 million fine.
In a Facebook post, Pua says the audit is necessary to ensure that the funds raised are legitimate and “not laundered”.
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Asserting that the funds could have been used to help ordinary citizens instead of “freeing Malaysia’s most corrupt”, Pua says it is time for the rakyat to “once again see Umno/BN’s true colours”.
House arrest order issued
1.25pm: Najib Abdul Razak's lawyer Farhan Shafee says that with the fine paid, the courts have issued a house arrest order, pursuant to the Pardons Board decision.
The order is being delivered to the Kajang Prison to secure the former prime minister’s transfer back home.
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He says he expects the process to be completed today.
Transport minister expected to step down
1.05pm: With former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak expected to be released from prison today, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s time as transport minister is also expected to end.
Loke tendered his resignation in September in protest of Najib’s house arrest clemency.
However, he was convinced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to wait until Najib is released from prison.
He previously said his last day as minister would be when Najib goes home.
House arrest conditions unknown
1.00pm: While former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is set to begin serving the rest of his prison sentence at home, one point of contention remains: What exactly are the terms of his house arrest?
Lawyer Shafee Abdullah said previously that Najib had been briefed on the SOPs, but was told to keep it secret.
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It is understood that the terms for the former premier’s home confinement are not the same as rules being drafted by the government for future house arrest of other prisoners.
Najib’s house arrest sentence for the SRC International corruption conviction would run until Aug 23, 2028. However, he is still on the hook for the 1MDB conviction and will have to return to prison after the house arrest sentence ends unless he can secure a stay of execution or have his conviction overturned.
Najib’s fine paid with donations
12.50pm: Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki confirms that the payment of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's fine was made today.
He says the fine was paid using donations that the party collected.
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Najib’s lawyer Farhan Shafee was earlier spotted making the payment at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex at 12.10pm.
Meanwhile, police are already on standby at Najib’s house at Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, and have begun controlling access to the area. - Mkini
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