Court turns down former Malay PM Najib’s to suspend 15-year sentence

The courts find there is no merit to Former Malaysian

Prime Minister Najib Razak's bid to suspend the enforcement

of his 15-year jail sentence in his second graft trial linked to

the multi-billion dollar looting of the

1MDB state investment fund.

Najib's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said they would

challenge the decision in a higher court.

Najib, 73, has been imprisoned since August 2022 in his first corruption

case linked to the 1MDB scandal that led to the downfall of his Barisan Nasional

coalition.

He was later convicted and sentenced to 15 years and fined 11.4 billion ringgit

in a second graft trial tied to the 1MDB fund, which is set to begin after

he completes his current sentence in August 2028.

Najib's lawyers have said he wasn't able to pay the fine as his

bank accounts and assets have been frozen by the government.