Pardons Board's decision on Najib's house arrest clear, says former A-G

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali said the Pardons Board's decision granting Datuk Seri Najib Razak a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, was clear and unambiguous.

He said the board's decision must be implemented in accordance with what had been decided, without any deviation.

He said Article 42(9) of the Federal Constitution clearly stipulated that, before giving its advice on any matter, the Pardons Board must consider any written opinion submitted by the A-G.

"Certainly, the AG's opinion for the purpose of the pardon must have been in favour of granting the pardon.

"So, why does the AG now appear to be changing his position on the pardon? This situation is highly unreasonable," he said in a statement.

Apandi said he agreed with the decree by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, that there was no ambiguity in the Pardons Board's decision.

In a statement yesterday, Istana Negara said any arguments disputing the conditional pardon order granted to the former prime minister could be construed as an act of defying the decree of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

It said all conditions stipulated in the conditional pardon order had been fulfilled and its implementation should not give rise to confusion or prolonged uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Apandi said Article 4 of the Federal Constitution established the Constitution as the supreme law of the country, while Article 5 provided for the right to personal liberty.

"The law applies to everyone. Refer to Article 8 (equality) of the Federal Constitution," he said.

Article 8(1), among other things, states that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.

The Prime Minister's Department's Legal Affairs Division, in a statement last September, said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had consented to grant Najib a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, provided he paid a RM50 million fine.

On Friday, Najib's lawyer, Muhammad Farhan Shafee, confirmed that the former Pekan member of parliament had settled the RM50 million fine imposed on him in the SRC International Sdn Bhd fund misappropriation case at the High Court Registry here.

In July 2020, Najib, who was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds, was fined RM210 million and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

The sentence was upheld by the Federal Court in August 2022.

However, on Feb 2, 2024, the Pardons Board Secretariat announced that Najib had been granted a 50 per cent reduction in his prison sentence, from 12 years to six years, while his fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.