KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today requested that the government verify if house arrest was part of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s royal pardon application.

He told the Parliament that he was informed that there is an appendix in the application that is an appeal to shift him from prison to house arrest.

"I was made to understand that apart from the pardon application, there is an appendix to appeal that his arrest location be changed from [Kajang Prison] to his house.

"I would like to ask if it is true and if it is true has it been discussed when the application was present and what is the result of that?” Ismail Sabri asked in his debate on the King’s speech.

There has been not much information released regarding the decision to pardon Najib beyond lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’a claim that the Agong had considered a full pardon for Najib, along with conflicting claims that some members of the board had felt the ex-prime minister should serve out his full sentence.

Despite the reduced sentence, Shafee reportedly said the former prime minister will consider another application for full pardon.

On February 2, the Pardon’s Board halved Najib’s sentence from a 12-year prison term to six years for misappropriating funds amounting to RM42 million, which means he may be released earlier on August 23, 2028.

Najib has been imprisoned since August 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering over the misappropriation of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds.

The Pardon’s Board said it had also decided to reduce his RM210 million fine to RM50 million, and his early release would be contingent on him paying this amount.

If he fails to do so, his early release date will be a year later on August 23, 2029.

He has been a prisoner for more than one year and five months now since August 2022, and his 12-year jail term was initially due to end in 2034.

Najib still has an ongoing trial involving 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds worth RM2.27 billion in which he has been charged with four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering.