PUTRAJAYA, Oct 22 — The Court of Appeal has set Dec 5 for the hearing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appeal concerning the dismissal of his leave application to commence judicial review regarding an alleged addendum on his house arrest.

Najib claims that the addendum was issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong to allow him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly@Arwi, when contacted by Bernama today, confirmed the hearing date.

The 71-year-old former prime minister’s application was rejected by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 3 this year, which found that the four affidavits supporting his claim, including those from Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice-president Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, were hearsay.

Following the dismissal, Najib filed a notice of appeal on July 9.

He named seven respondents in his application, namely the Home Minister, Commissioner-General of Prisons, Attorney General, Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM) (Law and Institutional Reform), director-general of Legal Affairs Division at JPM and the Malaysian government.

In his application filed in April this year, Najib is seeking a mandamus order to compel the respondents to respond and confirm the existence of the additional decree dated Jan 29 this year.

He also requests that if the additional decree exists, the respondents must enforce it and transfer him immediately from Kajang Prison to his residence in Kuala Lumpur to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

Najib has been incarcerated in Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022 after being convicted of embezzling RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Following his conviction, he filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, which resulted in a reduction of his sentence from 12 years to six years and his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million. — Bernama