00:00The KL High Court has brought forward the decision date
00:04in former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's bid
00:07to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
00:12Justice Alice Locke expedited the ruling to December 22,
00:16moving it up from the previously scheduled January 5 date.
00:20The change came during a case management session on Tuesday.
00:24Najib's legal team at Shafi and Company
00:26had written to the court requesting the earlier date,
00:30arguing that an addendum order allegedly granting house arrest
00:34was issued on January 29 last year
00:36and should have been implemented immediately.
00:39The lawyers pointed to instructions
00:40from former Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Hasna Mohamed Hashim,
00:45who had directed that the matter be resolved within one month.
00:48They also noted that based on a federal court order from August 13,
00:52the proceedings should have concluded by September 14.
00:56In their submission, Najib's legal team also emphasized
01:00that the 72-year-old has been in custody for nearly two years
01:04since the addendum order was purportedly issued,
01:07describing his prolonged detention as causing immense distress
01:11and deterioration to his emotional and overall well-being.
01:15This judicial review stems from Najib's conviction for abuse of power,
01:20criminal breach of trust,
01:22and money laundering related to 42 million ringgit
01:25from SRC International,
01:27a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
01:30In February last year,
01:32the Pardons Board reduced his original sentence
01:34from 12 years to 6 years in prison,
01:37and his fine from 210 million ringgit to 50 million ringgit.
01:41.
01:45.
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