KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Bar has been accused of being “one-sided” and causing “confusion” over its move to challenge the Pardons Board’s decision to commute ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s jail sentence and fine.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi also urged federal territories minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and Attorney-General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh to promptly address the issue.
He also alleged that the bar’s approval of a motion to initiate legal proceedings against the Pardons Board was “not surprising” as it had consistently “displayed bias and played politics.”
“The (bar’s) motion (against the Pardons Board) seems to accuse the board of acting unfairly and (suggests that Najib’s reduced sentence) is not the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“I challenge (the bar) to answer Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli’s dissenting judgment, (where) he said that Najib should have been acquitted after being denied a fair trial,” Puad added.
He also said that Najib had not applied for a remission of his punishment, and had instead sought a full pardon based on the grounds that his right to a fair trial was not upheld.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Bar passed a motion calling for a judicial review against the Pardons Board, which has slashed Najib’s 12-year jail sentence to six years and reduced his RM210 million fine to RM50 million.
The motion was passed during the bar’s annual general meeting with overwhelming support from its members, with only one member voting against the motion filed by the bar’s former president, Zainur Zakaria.
Muhammad Ezri Abdul Wahab, the bar’s newly elected president, had also told a press conference that the judicial review would be filed specifically against the Pardons Board and was not intended to challenge the King’s decision on Najib’s commuted sentence. – March 17, 2024