KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has filed an appeal with the nation's second highest court to serve out the remainder of his six-year jail sentence under house arrest.
His lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, said the appeal was linked to the existence of an alleged supplementary royal order signed by the former King allowing for him to serve his sentence under house arrest.
"The notice of appeal was filed on July 9 and the Court of Appeal has set Oct 7 for case management of the matter," he was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
Najib is appealing to compel the authorities to enforce the alleged royal addendum allowing the house arrest.
This comes after the Kuala Lumpur High Court, on July 3, had dismissed the former prime minister's application for leave to initiate a judicial review.
Judge Amarjeet Singh had ruled among others that all the affidavits claiming the existence of the royal addendum amounted to mere hearsay as they cited Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz as claiming the existence of the addendum.
Najib, who is serving his sentence in Kajang Prison, had initially been given a 12-year prison sentence and fined RM120 million after being found guilty in his corruption case involving RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd.
However, tthe Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by the then King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, had reduced this to six years' imprisonment and a fine of RM50 million.
Najib would, as such, be released in 2028, though prominent lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla has said the former prime minister would be eligible to apply for parole next year, after serving hald his sentence.