Umno says complying with Pardons Board's decision on Najib despite no full absolution

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Umno has said today that it accepts the decision of the Federal Territories Pardons Board to reduce Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s sentence, even if it did not grant a full pardon.

The party’s supreme council said it would continue the fight to free the former Umno president “based on the country’s laws”, reaffirming an earlier resolution passed at last year’s annual general assembly, its highest decision-making platform.

“We respect the decision and absolute discretionary right of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah,” the council said in a statement issued after nearly four hours of meeting at its headquarters here.

“Umno will still continue with efforts to deliver justice for our former president in accordance with the country’s laws and reaffirm the resolution of the AGM that wants Datuk Seri Najib to be given justice.”

In concluding its statement, Umno also called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who also sits on the Board, to “uphold” the party’s efforts to deliver justice for Najib.

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.

In the official statement on behalf of the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division as the board’s secretariat said this decision was made following the January 29 meeting of the Pardons Board for the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

It said the Pardons Board meeting, which was chaired by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, had considered five pardons applications including the one from Najib.

Under the Federal Constitution, the Agong chairs the meetings of the Pardons Board for the federal territories, which comprises the attorney general, the Federal Territories minister, and a maximum of three other members appointed by the Agong.