Malaysia’s king on Friday granted jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak a rare royal clemency, allowing him to serve the remainder of his prison term for graft under house arrest.
The decision came at a suddenly convened Pardons Board meeting, a week after the board deferred Najib’s latest clemency application to a future meeting. It marked an unprecedented use of house arrest as a form of royal clemency in Malaysia and could renew debate over royal powers, the rule of law and the treatment of Malaysia’s most prominent corruption convict.
