Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has warned against excusing corruption on the grounds of a leader's past contributions, amid public attention on the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision yesterday allowing former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.

In a social media post today featuring excerpts from his address at the 14th Madani Intellectual Forum, Anwar said compromising with corruption in the name of a leader's past service was contrary to Islamic teachings.

“Even hundreds of years of service cannot be an excuse for us to let anyone plunder and rob the wealth of the people and the nation,” he said.

Yesterday, High Court judge Aslam Zainuddin ordered Najib to serve the remainder of his commuted six-year prison sentence at his Jalan Langgak Duta residence until Aug 23, 2028.