Shafee: Government must not delay Najib’s house arrest if court allows it

Shafee: Government must not delay Najib’s house arrest if court allows it



Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah speaks during a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex on December 18, 2025. — Sayuti Zainudin pic

Thursday, 18 Dec 2025 2:27 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must immediately be allowed to serve the rest of his six-year prison term at home instead of at Kajang Prison if the High Court decides next Monday that his house arrest order can be carried out, his lawyer said today.

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today insisted that his client should be released into house arrest immediately, even if the Malaysian government were to appeal against any ruling favourable to Najib.

“On December 22, Monday, if the decision is in favour of Datuk Seri Najib, technically he must be placed under house arrest immediately,” he told the media at a press conference in the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur court complex here.

Shafee argued that the government cannot ask the High Court to stay or suspend the enforcement of the house arrest order if the ruling favours Najib and the government appeals, as this involves Najib’s liberty.


“They can appeal, but in my opinion, they cannot stay, because this is a pronouncement in favour of liberty,” he claimed.

“You cannot stay liberty. Liberty must be given,” he said.

Shafee was also asked if he would seek for Najib to be put on house arrest immediately if the High Court rules in his client’s favour, and replied that it could possibly take up to a few days to make the necessary arrangements for house arrest.


“Well, I can ask that. But I’m also reasonable enough to recognise that they would have to make arrangements such as which house, security guards or prison officers, and other conditions. It may take a couple of days for them to do that,” he said.

Shafee said Malaysia’s existing prison regulations allow for house arrest to be carried out, and said there is precedent from a past court case where house arrest was allowed.

Since August 2022, Najib has been serving his jail sentence at Kajang Prison, after he was found guilty in relation to SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million case.

Najib is now halfway through his jail term, which has been reduced to six years after a royal pardon, and may be released in August 2028 or August 2029 depending on whether he pays the RM50 million fine.

Shafee today declined to comment on the possibility of Najib seeking parole: “Parole has not arisen, so I won’t comment more on that.”

Typically, prisoners with a minimum one-year jail term can apply for parole, which is when prisoners are allowed to be released and to continue serving the rest of their sentence outside prison walls if they promise good conduct.

Next Monday, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur is scheduled to deliver its decision on whether the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s add-on order for Najib’s house arrest in the SRC case is valid and can be carried out.



Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is seen at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex July 7, 2025. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin



Shafee says Najib not asking for 1MDB verdict’s postponement

Separately, Shafee today insisted that his client Najib is “innocent” in both the RM42 million SRC case and in the RM2.2 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case.

Shafee today claimed Najib had not been given a “fair trial” in the 1MDB case, based on his client being unable to obtain certain evidence from former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and in response to the Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) statement on December 12 on Ng.

Although his remarks today are ahead of the High Court’s decision next Friday on whether Najib is guilty or otherwise of 25 charges in the RM2.2 billion 1MDB case, Shafee said that his comments today are not sub judice or against the rule which limits comments on court matters still being considered by the court.

Shafee denied that he was raising the fair trial issue now to get the 1MDB decision postponed: “No. We never want that. I’m just telling you this is what’s happening in our country.”

Shafee also confirmed that there is “no” instruction from Najib to postpone the Friday decision on the 1MDB trial.

Shafee also confirmed that he had previously already raised this fair trial argument relating to Ng at the High Court in the 1MDB case, when presenting his final arguments to defend Najib in the trial ahead of the decision next Friday.

Shafee was also asked how Monday’s decision on the house arrest order in the SRC case would affect the Friday decision in the 1MDB case, such as whether Najib would be allowed to be on house arrest if he is found guilty and given a jail sentence in the 1MDB case.

But Shafee said the Monday decision would not affect the 1MDB case, as these involve two different and separate cases, namely the SRC case and the 1MDB case.

“That is something else,” he said.

Among other things, Shafee said he hoped for a good outcome on both Monday and Friday next week: “What is the decision on Monday, we don’t know. What is the decision on December 26, we don’t know. So we hope Monday is a good decision for us, and we hope December 26 likewise will be a good decision for us.”

Shafee also questioned why Low Taek Jho, who is now a fugitive abroad, had not been brought back to Malaysia yet over his role in the 1MDB case: “So the question is whether this country is doing a dirty deal with Jho Low, or worse still doing a corrupt deal with Jho Low?”