The issue of Najib’s pardon application has been closely watched. Late on Thursday night, documents purportedly signed by Sultan Iskandar and Yeoh circulated on social media, stating Najib will serve the remainder of his sentence at home.
But Yeoh denied the legitimacy of the documents, saying she did not sign them.
“The Pardon Board has not met. Please do not share this fake document. My press secretary has made a report to the authorities,” she wrote in a Facebook post in the early hours of Friday.
After the Sep 11 meeting, Yeoh had said she had expressed her views “honestly”, guided by her conscience and the national interest, local media reported.
In a statement on Wednesday, she said the authority and final decision in such matters rest with the king.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had also weighed in on the Pardons Board earlier decision, saying that it was made based on the rule of law and should not be viewed through a personal lens.
Currently in Kajang Prison, Najib was scheduled to complete his term only on Aug 23, 2028 after securing a partial royal pardon in January 2024 that halved his jail term and reduced his fineto RM50 million.
Najib was initially sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million in July 2020 on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power.
The charges involved the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.
Najib, 73, began serving his jail term in August 2022.
Even after the partial royal pardon, Najib had insisted that the then-King, Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, had issued an addendum order for him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
The High Court last year ruled that the addendum order was not enforceable because it had not been deliberated in the January 2024 Pardons Board meeting. The meeting was held one day before Sultan Abdullah ended his reign as Malaysia’s monarch.
Najib then filed an appeal, but withdrew it in April this year. No reason was given in court documents seen by Malaysian news outlets.
Najib, who was Malaysia’s prime minister from 2009 to 2018, still has significant influence within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its Barisan Nasional coalition, which is part of Malaysia’s unity government along with Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and some Borneo-based parties.
Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said last year his client may return to politics if he is pardoned and allowed out of prison.
At UMNO’s annual general assembly last weekend, party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had repeatedly said he hoped for the best ahead of the pardons board meeting, and that the party was saddened by its decision to defer its consideration of Najib’s pardon application.
“Nevertheless, we remain respectful and express our respect to Tuanku (the king),” Zahid said, as quoted by local media.
Najib faces another lengthy jail term in a separate 1MDB-related case.
The High Court in December 2025 sentenced him to 15 years in prison and fined him RM11.38 billion on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.2 billion misappropriated from 1MDB. The jail term was due to begin in 2028 after he finishes his current sentence.
He has filed an appeal against the verdict and sentence, Reuters reported on Dec 30 last year.
