PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet did not discuss if there is a need for the Pardons Board to explain its grounds for commuting Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s jail sentence and reducing his fine, says government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil.He said there is no precedent where the Board has to explain or announce its deliberations.
The matter, he said, was also pointed out by constitutional expert Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi in his article published in The Star on Monday.
Prof Shad Saleem wrote that the Board is not bound to give reasons for its decision and its deliberations are secret.
However, he added that “many citizens wish to know why a high-profile and politically sensitive verdict that took more than four years to reach, cost millions of ringgit and witnessed extraordinary courage and integrity from nine judges at three levels of the court system, had to be undermined this way without cogent reasons”.
Fahmi said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also addressed the matter on Monday during the monthly gathering with staff of the Prime Minister’s Department.
“The Prime Minister has already spoken on the matter and we stand with his explanation,” he told reporters when asked if the Pardons Board should justify its decision to commute the former prime minister’s sentence.
Anwar had said all parties should respect the Board’s decision, adding that the consideration was not a matter of law but the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
He also said it was not true that Najib needed to serve at least three years of his sentence before his pardon application could be heard.
The Federal Territories Pardons Board had decided to commute Najib’s jail term from 12 years to six and reduce his fine from RM210mil to RM50mil.
According to the Board, Najib would be released on Aug 23, 2028.
Najib, 70, has been serving a prison sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42mil from SRC International.
He filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022.
On July 8, 2020, the High Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a fine of RM210mil after finding him guilty of three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of position.
Najib’s appeal against the conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2021 and Federal Court on Aug 23, 2022, making a royal pardon his only hope for freedom.
