KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — The reduction in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s sentence will damage Malaysia’s international standing and image, Lawyers for Liberty said today.
Its director Zaid Malek said in a statement this is because the 1MDB corruption scandal was a global news event that involved corrupt transactions in multiple countries.
“Its immediate effect is that this current government has suffered a devastating loss of moral authority,” he said in a statement here.
Zaid said then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, who chaired the Pardons Board then, had only acted on advice tendered to him.
He referred to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement on Najib’s pardon that he respected the decision of the then Agong and that the Agong decided to reduce the sentence after listening to the Pardons Board.
“He clearly suggests that it is the Agong’s decision,” he said.
He said Anwar was attempting to pass the final responsibility for the reduction of Najib’s sentence to the Agong, and that the prime minister’s remark constitutionally wrong.
“The responsibility for this pardon lies squarely upon the federal government, and not the Agong who as a constitutional monarch, acts upon advice tendered to him,” he said.
He said the power of pardon is exercised by the Agong upon the advice of the Pardons Board for the federal territories as per Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
“By virtue of Article 40(1A), whenever the Agong is to act in accordance with advice, the Agong ‘shall accept and act in accordance’ with that advice,” he said, adding that the Agong has no discretion in the matter.
He referred to case laws that have revealed that the royal prerogative of pardon is not justiciable in court but it doesn’t change the fact that the Agong is bound to act on the Board’s advice.
He said it was unusual for Anwar to say that Najib can appeal further to the Pardons Board against his reduced sentence.
“Why does the prime minister have to make such a statement, which is premature and up to the prisoner and his legal counsel to decide upon?” he asked, adding that this may lay the basis for a further reduction or possibly, a full pardon.
Yesterday, the Federal Territories Pardons Board announced that Najib’s prison sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million from a former 1MDB unit will be reduced by half while his fine will be cut from RM210 million to RM50 million.
The decision meant Najib, who began serving his prison term in August 2022, would be released by 2028.
He is likely to be released even earlier than that as he would be eligible for parole on good behaviour after serving just two-thirds of the six years.
