Malaysia’s Pardons Board cuts ex-Prime Minister Najib’s 12-year prison sentence by half

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s Pardons Board has reduced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 12-year prison sentence by half and sharply cut the fine imposed after his corruption conviction. The board said Friday that Najib will be freed by August 2028. Najib remains influential in his party, the United Malays National Organization, which is now a member of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government. Najib was imprisoned in August 2022 after losing his final appeal in a graft trial linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state fund. He became Malaysia’s first former leader to be imprisoned after his coalition’s defeat in 2018 polls due to the 1MDB scandal.