KUALA LUMPUR – Almost 11,000 signatories have been collected a week after a petition was put up pleading with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to grant imprisoned former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak a royal pardon.
The petition on Change.org, which was started by one Ismail Ibrahim a week ago, has since garnered over 10,898 signatures as of the time of writing.
Its description also pleads the king to grant a royal audience to Attorney-General Tan Sri Idrus Harun, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, as well as MACC Anti-Money Laundering Division director Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin to present the evidence that there was a conflict of interest in regards to judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
In a June filing, Najib alleged Nazlan, now a Court of Appeal judge, failed to disclose his role in his previous job as Maybank’s company secretary and group general counsel in 2012.
Najib’s lead defence counsel at the time, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said there was enough merit for them to seek a retrial as Nazlan could be an important witness in the 1MDB proceedings.
Nazlan was presiding over Najib’s SRC International Bhd trial and found the former leader guilty on all seven charges, sentencing him to 12 years in jail and a RM210 million fine.
Meanwhile, one Anusuya Pathmanathan, who signed the petition on Change.org, said Najib did not get a fair chance to defend himself, insisting that “he is innocent and the evidence points to that”.
“Most importantly, Malaysia needs him to lead the country to greatness again. Best prime minister of all time.”
Another commenter, Joo Leong Saw, echoed Anusuya, and questioned “what more does the nation want?”
“He (Najib) is the best PM. Please free him.”
Other supporters of the petition shared the same sentiments.
“Najib is innocent and it is all just a political game. His service to Malaysians is too great and he should not be jailed,” said Fazilah Safar.
The ongoing petition aims to collect 15,000 signatures.
Najib became the first former Malaysian prime minister to serve jail time, after the Federal Court upheld the high court’s decision on August 23.
Barely a day after Najib was put behind bars, non-governmental organisation Pertubuhan Jalinan Perpaduan Negara Malaysia urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to apply for a royal pardon to free the Pekan MP.
Its president Syed Mohammad Imran Syed Abdul Aziz insisted that the pardon application must come from Ismail Sabri and the royal pardon must be granted immediately through the king.
Meanwhile, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) launched an online petition on August 24, pleading with the Agong to not grant Najib a royal pardon.
In the petition, Bersih said Najib had committed a crime against the Malaysian public in his official capacity as prime minister and must serve his sentence to the fullest. – The Vibes, September 2, 2022
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