Malaysia’s rotating monarchy has played an outsized role in politics, helping determine the prime minister. Now the king may be ex-premier Najib Razak’s last chance to walk free for his crimes related to 1MDB.
Najib, 69, began serving time in prison from Tuesday after Malaysia’s top court upheld his 2020 conviction for corruption in relation to 1MDB, a troubled state fund from which billions were siphoned. The next day, 300 of his staunchest supporters gathered at the palace to formally ask King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to grant Najib a pardon, claiming the judiciary had conflicts of interest.
Meanwhile, Najib’s opponents started an online campaign to persuade the king not to issue a pardon, arguing the sentence is a deterrent against corruption for future leaders. They collected nearly 100,000 online signatures in over two days.