Jailed Malaysian ex-pm Najib moves closer to house arrest

Jailed former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak moved closer on Monday to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim.

Najib, 71, is serving a six-year jail term for corruption related to the plunder of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and faces several other cases linked to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in 2018 elections.

The purported existence of an order by the former king granting him permission to serve the rest of his current sentence at home has been at the centre of his arguments before the Court of Appeal, reports AFP.

A three-member bench ruled 2-1 to grant Najib's appeal to use the decree to argue his case before the High Court.

"Given the fact that there is no challenge (of the existence of the decree), there is no justification that the order has not been complied with," said Mohamad Firuz Jaffril, one of the three Court of Appeal judges.

The High Court ruled in July that affidavits supporting Najib's claim about the document's existence were inadmissible as evidence because they were hearsay, prompting the former premier to challenge the decision.

Monday's ruling means that the case will go back to the High Court, where the decree could be introduced as evidence to bolster Najib's bid to be placed under house arrest.

Najib was tried and originally sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in July 2000 but the sentence was later halved by a pardons board.

He is also defending himself against graft charges tied to more than $500 million in alleged bribes and several counts of money laundering.