Azalina says Najib’s pardons bid now in ‘court of compassion’, up to Agong’s discretion

PUTRAJAYA, April 12 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application for a royal pardon over his conviction and 12-year jail sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case is for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide, de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today.

Azalina said the legal avenues for Najib’s SRC case have been exhausted, and the pardons bid is now at the “court of compassion”.

“Now is court of compassion, meaning the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s discretion, so we also cannot force. Let the Yang di-Pertuan Agong make a decision, whether he wants to study, we all are no longer involved,” she told reporters here after launching the Malaysian government’s new website https://www.malaysia-sulucase.gov.my/.

Azalina, who is minister of law and institutional reform, was responding to a question about a former law minister's remarks that Umno cannot apply for royal pardon on Najib's behalf.

Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who was formerly in charge of law and Parliament, was reported last Monday by New Straits Times as saying that Umno has no legal standing to submit an application for Najib's royal pardon on his behalf.

Wan Junaidi was reported citing Regulation 113 of the Prisons Regulations 2000, when saying that the petition for pardon can only be filed by the prisoner directly or his immediate family members, namely his wife or children.

This means that neither his political party or even his lawyer can petition for a royal pardon on his behalf.

Najib became a prisoner on August 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering in relation to SRC’s RM42 million.

Just days after he started serving his 12-year jail term at the Kajang prison, Najib filed his application for a pardon on September 2, 2022.

No decision on his pardon has been made yet.

On March 31, Najib lost his latest bid to challenge his SRC conviction and jail term, when the Federal Court in a 4-1 decision rejected his application for it to review its decision on his conviction.

This meant his conviction and jail term remained intact and he is still a prisoner. He has been a prisoner for more than seven months now.

On April 7, Umno said it will appeal to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to consider pardoning Najib who is a former president of Umno.

To know how the royal pardon process works in Malaysia, read here for a summary by Malay Mail.