Kuala Lampur, Nov. 11 -- More than two years ago, I wrote that there is no house arrest under the law in Malaysia.

But a house can be a prison.

If a prisoner is to be under house arrest, the designated house can and must first be declared a prison under Section 3 of the Act.

Section 3 empowers the minister, by notification in the Gazette, to declare "any house, building, enclosure or place, or any part thereof, to be a prison for the purposes of this Act for the imprisonment or detention of persons lawfully in custody and may in like manner declare that any such prison shall cease to be a prison for the purposes of this Act".

So, when an AFP reporter reported that Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak had left prison for home o...