Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak
AFP news agency reported on February 2 that the Malaysian Amnesty Board said it had halved the sentence of former Prime Minister Najib Razak to 6 years in prison in a corruption case.
Mr Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 for charges related to misuse of public funds in a multi-billion-dollar financial scandal involving Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.
"After considering the comments and advice... the pardon board has decided to reduce by 50% the sentence and fine imposed on Mr. Najib Razak," according to the Malaysian Pardon Board.
The council, chaired by former Malaysian King Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and including the justice minister, met on January 29, two days before the king was due to hand over the throne to his successor. The council did not give any specific reasons for its decision.
According to the council, Mr. Najib will be released in 2028 and his fine will be reduced to 50 million ringgit (258 million VND). He will be sentenced to an additional year in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
After a lengthy trial, Mr Najib was convicted in 2020 of abuse of power, money laundering and breach of trust, for transferring 42 million ringgit from 1MDB's former SRC International unit to his personal bank account.
Mr Najib, who was Malaysia's prime minister from 2009 to 2018, has argued that he did not get a fair hearing, alleging that a judge had a conflict of interest and that his new legal team was not given enough time to study documents in the case.
His appeal was dismissed by the Malaysian Supreme Court.
Following the announcement by the Amnesty Board, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that every convicted citizen has the right to appeal to the king.
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