Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has dropped his legal bid to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest, closing off a closely watched appeal tied to his 2024 royal pardon.

Najib, 72, is serving a six-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison after his original 12-year term for the misappropriation of 42 million ringgit (US$10.6 million) from SRC International was halved by the Pardons Board in 2024.

SRC International was formerly a unit of 1MDB, the state fund at...