Najib pardon: board to discuss application at later ‘appropriate’ time

KUALA LUMPUR – The Pardons Board has yet to discuss the application filed by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for a pardon related to his current graft conviction and jail sentence.

Confirming the matter, Federal Territories Pardons Board secretary Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said that the application will instead be discussed at a later “appropriate” time. 

“The Pardons Board secretariat would like to say that Najib’s application was unable to be brought for discussion at its (last) meeting. 

“The application will instead be considered at the appropriate time, according to the law and regulations in place,” he said in a statement today. 

Khairul, who is also director-general of the legal affairs division of the Prime Minister’s Department, added that the April 28 meeting chaired by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong considered 10 pardon applications under Regulations 54 and 113 of the Prisons Regulations 2000. 

This, he said, is in line with the powers of the king under Article 42 of the federal constitution. 

The law outlines the power held by the ruler to grant pardon, postpone sentencing, and decrease sentences for offences committed in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Labuan. 

Meanwhile, a source close to the matter said Najib’s pardon bid was not addressed during the board’s recent meeting, causing some anxiety among the former Umno president’s family and supporters. 

“This is because… the 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million fine imposed on (Najib) has just been filed,” the source said when contacted by Getaran, The Vibes’ Bahasa Malaysia sister portal. 

The source added that Najib’s petition will have to wait for its turn, noting that the board’s meeting had only discussed past cases. 

“Of course, we are disappointed because we were hoping for good news. Unfortunately, this did not happen,” the source said. 

On March 31, a five-member bench of the Federal Court delivered a non-unanimous four-to-one decision rejecting Najib’s review application challenging the court’s own decision in August last year, which upheld his guilty verdict and 12-year jail sentence in the SRC International corruption case. 

Federal Court judge Datuk Vernon Ong, in delivering the majority judgment, said the decision to reject Najib’s review application was made after considering all submissions, as well as all evidence and arguments presented by the prosecution and defence. 

The sole dissenting opinion came from Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, who argued that Najib was not given a fair trial during the main Federal Court appeal after he was not allowed to seek adjournment. 

Rahman also noted that Najib’s request to rope in a King’s Counsel to represent him was rejected and that he was left to fend for himself after the apex court refused to grant his new counsel more time for preparations. 

Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah had subsequently said that the defence would submit the majority and minority judgments from the review attempt to the king for the ruler’s consideration.

Umno’s Supreme Council had also decided to submit an appeal to the Agong urging a full pardon for Najib, with the party’s vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin claiming that the decision would not affect unity government ties. 

This incited the ire of Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who accused the Barisan Nasional linchpin of applying political pressure in a desperate bid to secure a pardon for Najib. – The Vibes, May 1, 2023