KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth respects the Pardons Board's decision to defer former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's pardon application to a future meeting, says its chief Datuk Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh.
He said the power of pardon was vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
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"Therefore, this process must be fully respected without any pressure, demands or political interference from any party," he said in a statement on Friday (Sept 11).
Dr Muhammad Akmal added that Umno Youth will continue abiding by legal and constitutional channels, while urging all parties not to politicise the matter.
"We urge all parties to respect this process and not politicise the power of pardon under the Federal Constitution," he said.
"Daulat Tuanku," he added.
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Earlier Friday, it was reported that the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya had deferred Najib's pardon application to a future meeting.
The Prime Minister's Department's Legal Affairs Division said the board had agreed to defer Najib's application for a pardon to a future meeting.
At the same meeting, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, consented to the release of 65 prisoners on Friday.
The meeting was held in Putrajaya on Friday.
Najib, 73, was convicted of misappropriating RM42mil belonging to SRC International and sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with a RM210mil fine.
He began serving his sentence at Kajang Prison on Aug 23, 2022.
The Pardons Board subsequently halved his prison term to six years and reduced the fine to RM50mil.
On Dec 22, then High Court judge Justice Alice Loke, now a Court of Appeal judge, dismissed Najib's application to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
Najib later withdrew his appeal against the decision.
