House Arrest in Malaysia: What Does the Law Say and How Does It Work?

Malaysia may not have a specific law dedicated to house arrest, but that does not necessarily mean prisoners must serve every day of their sentences behind prison walls.

Under certain circumstances, existing provisions in the country's prison laws give prison authorities the power to allow inmates to serve part of their sentences outside prison, subject to specific conditions.

The issue has gained attention following the reported conditional pardon granted to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on September 18, which allows him to serve the remainder of his SRC International prison sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028. The arrangement is subject to conditions, including the payment of a RM50 million fine.

But how exactly does house arrest work in Malaysia? Does the Prisons Department already have the authority to make such arrangements? And how is this different from a royal pardon?

There is also the question of Najib's separate 1MDB conviction and whether the house-arrest arrangement has any impact on that sentence. To make sense of the legal provisions and what they mean in practice, we break down the key points based on the Prison Act 1995, Prison Regulations 2000, relevant court judgments and news reports, with explanations from Datuk Murugesan.

Watch the full video HERE. 

Source : Astro Tamil Seithigal , Malay Mail , murugesan_s , Awani