(Bloomberg) -- Najib Razak’s lawyers said they are unaware of the status of the petition for a royal pardon for the incarcerated former Malaysian prime minister, following a news report that a board headed by the king is scheduled to meet soon to decide on his appeal.

A six-member board will meet this month to decide whether to grant a royal pardon to Najib for convictions in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. case, Singapore-based Channel News Asia reported.

“Our client and us are in the dark about the state of our client’s petition for pardon,” Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Malaysian Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil told reporters the matter was not discussed during a cabinet meeting Wednesday, “but we cannot get ahead of the process and we leave it to the Pardons Board as it is under the King.”

Najib is currently serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted in 2022 on three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power. He is accused of transferring 42 million ringgit ($9 million) from 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd to his personal account between 2014 and 2015. The 70-year-old has exhausted all appeals and only a royal pardon could quash the conviction.

Malaysia’s Pardons Board is scheduled to meet in the third week of January, the news outlet reported, citing senior government officials it didn’t name. 

The Pardon Board’s reported meeting this month would come right before the current King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah steps down from the throne on Jan. 31, as part of the nation’s rotational monarchy. The current king hails from the same state as Najib. He will hand over the monarch role to Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor.

Najib’s lawyers formally requested a royal pardon from the king in 2022. They argue he had not been tried fairly, his lead defense counsel, Shafee, said last month.

“I am confident in terms of merit, he is not wrong,” Shafee said then. “In terms of procedure, he was deprived of a fair trial.”

Under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia has been focused on recovering much of the billions of dollars looted from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. The Southeast Asian nation dropped all criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over its role in the scandal in a July 2020 settlement, in exchange for a $2.5 billion cash payment and for the guaranteed return of $1.4 billion of seized 1MDB assets. 

Anwar’s promise for reforms had fueled hopes that he would be able to repair Malaysia’s international standing after he was elected to the top job in 2022. To get there however, he formed an alliance with the United Malays National Organisation, the party Najib led when he was prime minister. 

UMNO is now led by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who became deputy prime minister despite facing 47 criminal charges — including those for money laundering and corruption. The charges have since been withdrawn, spurring criticism that prompted Anwar to deny interfering in the Attorney-General’s decision. A member of the ruling alliance pulled out in protest in September.

And while far from certain, critics are now wondering if a similar reprieve is coming for Najib, a move that analysts say could pose further political problems for Anwar’s fragile coalition.

“If Najib gets out or gets a reduced sentence, it could spell trouble for current UMNO president Zahid Hamidi, who is facing possible unrest among his party leaders,” said Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, an independent analyst who has followed political developments in Malaysia for more than 15 years. “A weakened Zahid may not be in the best interest of Anwar as it will only strengthen those in UMNO who want to leave the federal ruling coalition.”

--With assistance from Anisah Shukry and Cecilia Yap.

(Adds comments by Najib’s lawyers and government, fresh context throughout)

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