KUALA LUMPUR – Excited murmurs of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s possible pardon and early release have gone into overdrive with talk that the Pardons Board is expected to sit tomorrow to deliberate the matter.
The convening of the Pardons Boards and its deliberations are protected by the Official Secrets Act. However the issue of Najib’s pardon has been a matter of speculation from even the foreign media.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison over charges of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust relating to SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.
His supporters are hoping that if the speculation holds water and Najib is indeed pardoned, he will be released sometime in May next year as he still has to serve at least one-third of his sentence for the SRC conviction.
The “formula” for release also involves factors such as good behaviour and public holidays, among others.
However, supporters also hope for the 70-year-old Najib’s almost immediate release on Friday, with the purported unfairness demonstrated at his trial and the controversy over Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali’s alleged conflict of interest in presiding over the case.
Najib’s loyalists claim pardon ‘long due’
“If it’s true, it’s good and the pardon is justified since the SRC trial and decision had been marred with a lot of doubts and issues on the question of fairness – be it on merit or on procedures,” former Umno Supreme Council member Isham Jalil said.
“Najib deserves to get a fair trial, so does everyone else in this country.”
In June last year, Isham urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government to re-examine judge Nazlan’s role in the establishment of SRC International in 2010. Nazlan was the former high court judge who convicted and sentenced Najib in the SRC case on July 28, 2020.
Moreover, Isham believes that Nazlan’s past role as the general counsel and company secretary for the Maybank Group, involved in SRC International’s establishment, creates a bias in his judgment. Isham suggested that this potential bias, not disclosed by the judge, provided a strong basis for a retrial before an unbiased judge to ensure justice for Najib.
However, another close Najib ally, Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, believes Najib deserves a royal pardon.
“DSN (Najib) will help strengthen Umno and the unity government… but let the Royal Pardons Board decide on the matter,” the Umno Supreme Council member said.
“If he is to be pardoned, it is the sole discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Who’s on the Pardons Board?
Under Article 42(5) of the federal constitution, a Pardons Board for each state as well as the federal territories shall consist of the attorney-general, the chief minister, menteri besar, or minister in charge of the federal territories, and not more than three other members appointed by the ruler.
Since the Anwar administration does not have a specific federal territories ministry, its responsibilities are now placed under the Prime Minister’s Department. Currently, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the federal territories is PKR’s Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
In processing a pardon, the attorney-general will initiate the application presentation during the board’s meeting in the presence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the state ruler, who is the presiding authority in the session. Subsequently, the members of the board will offer their perspectives on granting the pardon, considering the input provided by the AG.
During the Umno annual general assembly in June, party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also deputy prime minister, said the party’s Supreme Council remained committed to its aim of ensuring Najib’s release.
This came after Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said that the council had requested for the king to consider granting Najib a royal pardon.
Similarly, Anwar – in an interview with Bloomberg in September – reiterated that it was the prerogative of the Agong to issue pardons for convicted individuals.
Noting that every convicted person had the right to appeal for a pardon, Anwar said that the issue of the former prime minister’s pardon was the sole discretion of the king and should not be “pre-empted”.
Najib’s other charges
Overall, Najib has faced a total of 42 charges in five separate trials linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
Najib was sent to Kajang Prison on August 23, 2022 after the apex court upheld his SRC International conviction. He subsequently filed a royal pardon petition on September 2, 2022.
Following his imprisonment over the SRC case, Najib was confronted with four additional court cases.
In his second trial, Najib was accused of three counts of money laundering amounting to RM27 million related to SRC International. The alleged transactions took place at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Kuala Lumpur on July 8, 2014.
The third case involves four charges of leveraging his position to acquire bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and an additional 21 charges of money laundering, all pertaining to the same amount.
For the fourth case, Najib and Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah faced joint charges of six criminal breaches of trust, involving RM6.64 billion of government funds.
These offences were purportedly committed during their roles as finance minister and Treasury secretary-general, respectively, at the Finance Ministry Complex in Putrajaya, spanning from December 21, 2016, to December 18, 2017.
Charges were filed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, in conjunction with Section 34 of the same law, carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment, whipping, and fines upon conviction.
The fifth case centred around the alleged tampering of the 1MDB audit report, where Najib was charged with power abuse, and ex-1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy with abetting him.
However, on March 3 last year, the high court acquitted Najib in his trial related to the removal of crucial information from the auditor-general’s 2016 report on 1MDB. On September 12, the Court of Appeal upheld the acquittal as the prosecution had failed to file its appeal in time.
Lawyer denies reports
Last week, Najib’s lawyer cast doubt on the credibility of news reports regarding the Pardons Board, known for its high confidentiality and protection under the Official Secrets Act.
The reports claimed the board would review Najib’s pardon application in the third week of the month, a revelation that surprised Najib’s defence team. The lead defence lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, expressed bewilderment, stating that neither Najib nor the defence team were aware of the board’s meeting schedule.
Shafee highlighted the timeline of Najib’s pardon petition, submitted in September 2022, with subsequent addendums in October 2022 and April 2023. Despite these filings, the defence received no updates until almost the end of 2023. Frustrated by the lack of information, they sent a reminder to the Legal Affairs Division on December 4, 2023, but received no response.
Expressing concern over the uncertain status of the petition, Shafee stressed the urgency of addressing it, especially considering Najib’s claim of an unfair trial.
Shafee stressed the power of the Pardons Board fell under the king’s prerogative, outlined in Article 42 of the federal constitution, and urged against breaching confidentiality, as it could violate the Official Secrets Act.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah will be handing over the duties of the Agong to Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on January 31. – January 17, 2024