Malaysia’s pardons board headed by the King met on Monday (Jan 29), according to a Cabinet minister, after a report said that the meeting had decided on an application from imprisoned former prime minister Najib Razak.

Zaliha Mustafa, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who sits on the pardons board, told reporters on Tuesday that the meeting took place at the national palace. She didn’t say if Najib’s pardon bid was discussed, according to a Bloomberg report. “Just wait for the official statement from the Pardons board,” Zaliha said.

Malay Daily Utusan Malaysia, quoting sources, earlier said that Malaysia’s Pardons Board had granted the former prime minister a pardon. But The New Straits Times said that Utusan Malaysia later published an article on its site retracting its report. Utusan also issued an apology for the article.

Bloomberg quoted The Edge as saying on Tuesday that the board met in what is King Abdullah Ahmad Shah’s last official meeting before passing the reins to Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar this week as part of the nation’s rotating monarchy. The report didn’t say when the decision would be made public. 

The board was scheduled to meet Monday, and it was reported earlier that it may consider Najib’s bid for a pardon from his convictions related to the 1Malaysia Development scandal. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for several charges in the case involving US$8.9 million of funds belonging to SRC International, a former unit of the troubled state fund. 

Najib’s lawyer and the Malaysian government didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

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