Najib claims previous Agong wanted him to serve remaining sentence at home
Published on: Wednesday, April 03, 2024
By: Malay Mail
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, April 3, 2024. (Malay Mail pic)
Kuala Lumpur: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has applied to the High Court to compel the federal government and the Pardons Board to produce a purported “supplementary order” from the previous Yang diPertuan Agong.
In his application for leave to seek judicial review filed on April 1, Najib claimed Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah issued the order during the January 29 meeting of the board, for the former to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
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Al-Sultan Abdullah of Pahang reigned for five years as the 16th King of Malaysia until January 30, after ascending the federal throne on January 31, 2019.
Najib claimed that while the supplementary order or Addendum Order was made on January 29, it was omitted when his partial pardon was announced on February 2.
“His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong XVI had also immediately or simultaneously issued an Addendum Order on the same day which was within the powers and jurisdiction of His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong XVI.
“The Addendum Order curiously was not announced by the fourth, fifth, and sixth respondent or by any of the other respondents when the announcement of the Main Order only was made.
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“This anomaly was never revealed nor explained by any of the respondents,” he said in his application.
A total of seven respondents were named in Najib’s suit, namely the Home Minister, Commissioner General of Prisons, the Attorney General, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), the Director General of Legal Affairs Division and the Malaysian government.
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In the application, Najib alleged that he received confirmation on February 12 about the issuance of the Addendum Order, which would allow him to serve his reduced prison sentence under condition of “home arrest” instead of Kajang Prison.
Najib’s application is set to be heard before High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh on April 4.
On February 2, the Pardon’s Board halved Najib’s sentence from a 12-year prison term to six years for misappropriating funds amounting to RM42 million, which means he may be released earlier on August 23, 2028.
Najib has been imprisoned since August 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering over the misappropriation of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s funds.
The Pardon’s Board said it had also decided to reduce his RM210 million fine to RM50 million, and his early release would be contingent on him paying this amount.
Najib said his lawyers also wrote to, among others, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as well as de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, seeking confirmation on the existence of the supplementary order.
In his grounds for the application, Najib said the Agong’s orders are not merely administrative decrees but reflections of the legal and moral authority vested in the monarchy.
“Therefore the respondents’ disregard to the requests of the applicant constitutes a direct intrusion of the applicant’s basic right as provided in the Constitution and the laws generally.
“Over and above this the defiance of the respondents constitute a direct contempt of the Institution of His Majesty Seri Paduka Baginda the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
“The respondents’ failure to answer the existence of the supplementary order and the applicant’s request to be served with it, along with the subsequent inaction by the Prison Department and the home minister to execute the said order is irrational, unreasonable, illegal and arbitrary,” Najib said.
Other reliefs sought by Najib include for the court to compel the respondents to execute said supplementary order.
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