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Grounds of application and recommendation for Najib's pardon must be fully disclosed – Projek Sama
The public's trust will be eroded by doubts and cynicism without transparency
Updated 41 minutes ago · Published on 31 Jan 2024 6:15PM
Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak emerges from the courtroom after the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case on December 8, 2021. The Vibes pic.
PROJEK SAMA urges the Pardons Board of Wilayah Persekutuan to fully disclose the grounds of application by Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and the recommendations made to Yang diPertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah over the pardon of corruption convict Najib Razak. This must be done without delay after the drama over Najib's pardon shocked and confused the nation since the afternoon of January 30 (Tuesday).
While His Majesty Yang diPertuan Agong (YDPA) has the full discretionary power on pardon of convicts in the Federal Territories as provided for under Articles 42(1) and 40(3) of the Federal Constitution, the public has the right to be informed of the grounds of application and recommendations, including any written opinion by the Attorney General [Article 42(9)], made to His Majesty.
Transparency on the part of the convict Najib and of public officers sitting on the Pardons Board – the Attorney General and the Minister in charge of the Federal Territories (in the case of a state, the Chief Minister) – is important to ensure public trust in the constitutionally enshrined mechanism of pardon.
Not amenable to judicial review, pardon is an invaluable mechanism to supplement justice with compassion by "[making] the convict a new man and [giving] him new credit and capacity. (essence of KM Nanavati v State of Bombay 1961 SCR 497, as summarised by Lexis Nexis).
Without transparency, the public's trust will be eroded by doubts and cynicism. The public may well conclude that powerful convicts abuse the mechanism and thereby undermine justice.
To put things in perspective, pardons for politicians convicted of criminal acts is not rare. It is often done to effect political reconciliation.
However, two conditions normally apply. First, the convict admits guilt and seeks forgiveness from the public. This is especially important as an affirmation of the legitimacy of the Prosecution’s efforts and the Judiciary's decisions. Also, this condition protects the two institutions from contempt. Second, where possible, the convict undertakes acts of redemption to make amends such as making good losses to the country caused by the convict’s wrongdoing.
Beyond those two conditions, a decision on pardon ought to take into consideration whether the convict has already served a substantial part of the prison term he was sentenced to.
The Malaysian public deserves to know if the SRC convict Najib Razak has admitted his guilt in the 1MDB scandal and sought forgiveness of Malaysians, and more importantly, whether he has instructed his lawyer to plead guilty on the remaining three cases to save public funds on litigation and return all of the ill-gotten wealth.
To borrow from the essence of the KM Nanavanti's case, "is Najib intending and ready to be a 'new man'?"
If the five-member Pardon Board has recommended Najib to be pardoned or to have his term commuted while he insists that he is a victim of selective prosecution or that others failed him, then such recommendation has derided the Judiciary and the Prosecution. It also indirectly sends to the Judiciary and Prosecution a message of futility over Najib's remaining cases, as he would eventually be freed even if he is convicted again and again.
The rule of law must be consistently upheld, both to underline the equality of all citizens and to encourage law-abiding behaviour. This is vital for sustaining and growing any civilised society and modern economy.
An act of pardon without justification can greatly undermine the rule of law, discourage respect for law and justice amongst the citizens, and discourage investment from both at home and abroad. Of course, the practice of double-standards also erodes the moral basis of the sitting government. – The Vibes, January 31, 2024
Projek Sama (for ‘Project – Stability and Accountability for Malaysia’) is a movement advocating institutional reforms in Malaysia.
5 reasons why disgraced former PM Najib cannot be pardoned
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31, 2024: Finance Twitter has posted an analysis why the disgraced and shameless former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak cannot be pardoned.
A key reason is that the jailbird has to be left languishing in prison for at least a third of his jail sentences before a legitimate review of his sentence can be conducted.
And Najib has been in jail for about a year of his 1-year prison sentence.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below the Finance Twitter report that was posted by The Coverage:
The Coverage/News/No Royal Pardon : Here’re 5 Reasons Why Najib Cannot Walk Away Free
No Royal Pardon : Here’re 5 Reasons Why Najib Cannot Walk Away Free
31 January, 2024
Exactly why should former Prime Minister Najib Razak be given a royal pardon after serving less than 2 years (17 months to be precise) out of 12 years jail term? If you ask his loyalists to give one reason – just one compelling reason – why the crook should be allowed to walk away free, they could only scream that he had been unfairly imprisoned and it was political persecution.
Sure, go to any prison and ask every convict, and chances are they will all claim innocence. Try to visit a mental institution and you can bet your last dollar that every patient will say he or she is not crazy. Ask ex-premiers like Mahathir Mohamad, Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri, as well as ex-finance minister Daim Zainuddin, and they will swear that they didn’t steal a single penny.
So, why should outgoing King Sultan Abdullah of Pahang pardon Mr Najib at the eleventh hour before his reign as the country’s 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong ends today (January 30)? Even if the monarch wants to do Najib one last favour, the Pardons Board must cook up at least one very convincing excuse. In truth, there isn’t any reason to pardon him except for political reason.
Najib hardcore loyalists in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), or those who had been expelled from the party but desperately wanted to rejoin, have offered an amusing excuse to pressure Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to free the crook. They argued that Najib was the only saviour who could revitalise the ailing Malay nationalist party, which is dying under Zahid Hamidi’s current leadership.
That explains why pro-UMNO local daily Utusan Malaysia published – and retracted with an apology – that the Pardons Board had decided to grant Najib a royal pardon yesterday. Interestingly, the 80-year-old news media is owned by Media Mulia, which is linked to billionaire Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, whose tentacles included New Straits Times, Berita Harian, Harian Metro as well as TV stations – TV3, NTV7, TV9 and 8TV.
Despite huffing and puffing from Najib supporters, whose gravy train has been severely crippled under Anwar’s corruption crackdown, the King could not find an extraordinary reason to justify an early royal pardon for the man who has so far shown no remorse. But there are at least “five non-political reasons” why a pardon is impossible for the disgraced Najib.
1.0 – Najib Has Other Charges Which Are Still Ongoing
First, crooked Najib has other charges which are still ongoing, so it does not make sense to even talk about pardons at this stage. The shameless former premier is serving a 12-year sentence after 3 courts and 9 judges (High Court – 1, Court of Appeal – 3, Federal Court – 5) all unanimously convicted him in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case.
He faces another three ongoing criminal cases. He is accused of illicitly receiving US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB funds via British Virgin Islands shell company Tanore Finance, laundering RM27 million belonging to SRC International, and committing breach of trust involving RM6.6 billion in government funds paid to Abu Dhabi’s government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company.
The tricky part is the King can only pardon Najib on the SRC International conviction, but not all the other ongoing trials. The monarch would look like a fool for pardoning Najib now, only for the court to find him guilty again for the subsequent criminal cases. Do you expect Sultan Abdullah to pardon Najib, and the next King – Sultan Ibrahim of Johor – to also pardon him later?
2.0 Royal Pardons Are Only Granted For Criminal Cases, But Not Bankruptcy
Second, royal pardons are only granted for criminal cases, but not bankruptcy. In Oct 2023, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said Najib and his son Nazifuddin had exhausted their final avenue to overturn the High Court’s decision compelling them to settle RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes and penalties respectively, allowing the Inland Revenue Board to serve them with a bankruptcy notice.
3.0 Three Years Should Be Served Before A Prisoner’s Conduct Is Reviewed
Third, the Pardons Board – headed by the King and consists of the Attorney-General as well as the Federal Territories Minister and not more than three other members appointed by the King – must consider the reasonable amount of time that Najib had spent in jail. Generally, three years should be served before a prisoner’s conduct is reviewed (Najib had served only 17 months).
Fourth, the monarch would not want to damage his own reputation for rushing into pardoning Najib as it would lead to accusation of abuse of power, cronyism and hypocrisy. Najib holds the “Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar” title, which he inherited from his late father. The title, which dates back about three centuries in 1722, was accorded to him by the Pahang palace by virtue of the title being hereditary.
The title is one of the four highest ranking nobles below the monarch – hence also known as the “Orang Besar Berempat”, loosely translates as “the four chiefs”. If Najib is granted pardon or immunity from corruption, Sultan Abdullah of Pahang will be a laughing stock as he previously had condemned corruption as against Islam and a cancer that could destroy civilisations.
Even if the King decides to cut short Najib’s 12-year jail term in order to facilitate an earlier release, it would trigger public anger over the Royal Institution’s interference in perverting the course of justice. In March 2023, the Federal Court in a 4-1 majority decision dismissed the former prime minister’s application to review the decision of the previous Federal Court upholding his conviction.
It was already bad that despite being a convicted criminal, Najib Razak was invited to the Palace for a special dinner during Ramadan on April 18, 2022 – raising eyebrows that the King was ready to grant a royal pardon to the crook. Not only he was invited to dine and wine with Sultan Abdullah, the crook was seated at the high table alongside then-PM Ismail Sabri, who in turn seated next to the monarch.
Fifth, pardoning Najib would also be seen as a slap in the face of incoming King Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who vows to fight corruption by hunting all the corrupt people. Najib and Sultan Abdullah’s special relationship is a double-edged sword. It puts more pressure on the monarch not to abuse the power granted by the Federal Constitution to grant a pardon to convicts like Najib.
There won’t be any royal pardon for the crook because if there is, Utusan Malaysia would not have to delete its article and apologize for the fake news. The reason why the nation’s oldest Malay language daily, which ceased their print editions on 21 August 2019 due to the company’s financial woes and bankruptcy, published unverified news was to pressure the government to free Najib.
But why can’t the government release any official statement to deny the royal pardon, and passed the ball to the Pardons Board instead? That’s because PM Anwar Ibrahim does not want to create unnecessary friction with Najib loyalists due to the alliance between Pakatan Harapan and UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalitions, who are now part of the Unity Government.
By repetitively trumpeting that the pardon is at the sole discretion of the King, Anwar-led government cleverly passed the ball to the Malay Ruler, making it difficult for Najib faction in UMNO to blame the prime minister or the government for not rescuing Najib. In reality, both Anwar and Zahid were playing “tai-chi” to keep Najib in prison for as long as possible.
The best part is it would be harder for the King Sultan Ibrahim to grant a royal pardon to corrupt crooks like Najib as the Johor monarch has even higher standard to maintain. Releasing Najib is not only political suicide for Anwar, it would create more political mess to the new Agong as the ambitious ex-premier will surely plot his political comeback.
Like it or not, Najib isn’t the saviour of UMNO, otherwise the Malay voters would have overwhelmingly voted for the party in the Nov 2022 General Election because only by winning big can he return to power. But Barisan Nasional did not win big, did it? Instead, it suffered the biggest defeat in history, capturing only 30 seats in the 222-seat Parliament.
Source : Finance Twitter
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