KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has filed an application with the civil court to determine whether the royal pardon granted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim five years ago was to set aside not only his sentencing, but also his conviction.
In the application filed on March 31 in the Alor Setar High Court, Muhammad Sanusi also wanted the court to determine whether the pardon granted under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution is capable of setting aside a criminal conviction.
He also wants the court to determine if Anwar's conviction records were erased.
In the application filed through his lawyers at Yusfarizal Aziz & Zaid, the PAS man said that these questions of law and facts are part of his primary defence in Anwar's ongoing defamation suit against him.
Anwar, the Tambun Member of Parliament, filed the suit in December last year over a speech Muhammad Sanusi gave while campaigning during the 15th general election in November.
Anwar, who is suing Muhammad Sanusi in his personal capacity, alleged that the statements implied that he was not a good Muslim and had abused his power in his political party to obtain a royal pardon.
Elaborating on the reasons for the application, Muhammad Sanusi said that Anwar — in a court filing pertaining to the suit — claimed that he was given a full pardon, which included his sentence and conviction.
However, the MB contended that there were no such clear indications in the pardon nor the law which state that the conviction would also be set aside.
In his supporting affidavit seen by The Edge, he said that Anwar had accused him of making defamatory statements, which included matters of Anwar's criminal records. However, based on the pardon, there was no indication that the records were completely erased, the MB added.
In a reply filed in April, Anwar raised a preliminary objection to the Kedah MB's application contending that the matter was outside the jurisdiction of the courts.
He said that there were case precedents, where the courts maintained that they cannot affirm or vary any decisions by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, including the decision to issue a royal pardon.
Anwar also said that with the royal pardon, the conviction records were also set aside, and that any statements referring to this would be slanderous.
When contacted, Muhammad Sanusi's lawyer Yusfarizal Yusoff confirmed that the matter was set for further case management on June 28.
Anwar is represented by lawyer Sankara Nair in this matter.
After spending more than three years in prison over a second sodomy conviction, Anwar was granted a pardon by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V back on May 16, 2018.
The PKR leader was released about a week after the Pakatan Harapan coalition took over the government. Anwar has always claimed that the charge was politically motivated.
He was jailed for six years on an abuse of power charge, and was released in 2004, after his first sodomy conviction was set aside by a majority decision that same year.