High Court brings forward decision on Najib Razak’s judicial review for house arrest to December 22 from original January 5 date.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has rescheduled its decision on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s judicial review application regarding a purported house arrest addendum to December 22.
Senior Federal Counsel Shamsul Bolhassan confirmed the new date after case management proceedings before Judge Alice Loke Yee Ching via Zoom.
“Yes, the decision date has been brought forward to Dec 22 at 9 am,” Shamsul stated.
Judge Loke had previously fixed January 5 next year for the decision after hearing submissions from all parties.
The date change followed a request from Najib’s legal team at Messrs Shafee & Co, who argued for urgency in their letter to the High Court deputy registrar.
The law firm stated their 72-year-old client has remained in custody for nearly two years since the alleged addendum order was issued on January 29, 2024.
“Our client remains detained in prison to this day, solely due to the ongoing proceedings before this honourable court,” the letter stated.
The legal team referenced former Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim’s direction that the matter be disposed of within one month during Federal Court proceedings on August 13.
Najib’s lawyers argued that prolonged detention has caused him immense distress, trauma and significant deterioration to his emotional and overall well-being.
The Federal Court had remitted the case to the High Court for a merits hearing before a new judge after dismissing the Attorney General’s application for leave to appeal.
Najib seeks a mandamus order compelling respondents to confirm and disclose the existence of the purported January 29, 2024 addendum document.
He named the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney-General, Pardons Board, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), legal affairs director-general, and the Government of Malaysia as respondents.
The former prime minister also seeks enforcement of the addendum to transfer him from Kajang Prison to his Kuala Lumpur residence to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Najib has been incarcerated at Kajang Prison since August 23, 2022, following his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
His original 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine were halved to six years and RM50 million respectively by the Pardons Board.
