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WNAM Monitoring: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s 12-year jail sentence for corruption has been halved by the country’s pardons board.
Najib was jailed in 2022 over the embezzlement of Malaysia’s state-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The board also reduced the fine imposed on him to 50m ringgit (£8.3m; $10.5m) from the original 210m ringgit.
Najib must pay this in full to secure his release in August 2028. If he fails to pay, his sentence will be extended for another year until 2029. He was convicted in 2020 after spending two years appealing his conviction before the courts.
The jailing of such a senior figure in Asian politics at that time caused major ripples across South East Asia. It was held up as a rare example of accountability in a region where power is so often unaccountable.
Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which previously led the ruling coalition that governed Malaysia, has been pushing for a royal pardon after testing and exhausting other legal avenues of appeal.
