"Pardon is sole prerogative of YDPA, he can listen to advice of the board. But it is his sole decision. You cannot challenge and his discretion is absolute. Karen Cheah seems to think otherwise… she says you must listen to four to five other members of the panel. I think she should go back to law school,” Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said.
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah announced that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is waiting for the right time to file a fresh application as he seeks a full pardon.
Shafee said that Najib is waiting for the newly crowned King of Malaysia, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim to “warm his seat” before filing his application.
“I don’t want to push it (the application), the YDPA hasn’t warmed his seat yet, we have to time it right,” he said at a press conference at the Kuala Lumput court complex here to address Najib’s commuted jail sentence for the SRC International case.
He said that the fresh application for a full pardon is because the current Pardons Board did not act in accordance with its role in the Constitution.
“Reason for [the new] request [for a full pardon] is because we don’t think the Pardons Board operated the way the Constitution expected them to,” he said.
He elaborated that while the king can hear views of the Pardon Board, any decision has to be his, and his alone.
“The YDPA must hear the board but he decides on his own on whether to pardon or not,” he said.
“It is unclear if the process of the Pardons Board and the decisions made thereto are regular or otherwise. But the law is clear that the royal prerogative of mercy is the sole discretion of the king. It is unfettered and non-challengeable in any court.
“This is trite law. But due to the inconsistencies pointed out, many members of the public are rather concerned. Najib is most baffled,” he said.
Shafee then lambasted detractors and critics of Najib’s commuted sentence, such as Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, G25 and constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi.
He said some of the comments were uncalled for, taking aim at G25 and Cheah.
He labelled G25 as “completely ignorant” in saying that Najib needs to be repentant to get a pardon.
“It is completely ignorant and missed the boat,” Shafee said, adding that Najib’s application for a pardon was because he was not granted a fair trial and his constitutional rights were not adhered to in the court process of his SRC International trial and subsequent appeals.
As for Cheah, he said that her statement that the king has to listen to members of the Pardons Board in order to arrive at a decision is wrong.
“Pardon is sole prerogative of YDPA, he can listen to advice of the board. But it is his sole decision. You cannot challenge and his discretion is absolute. Karen Cheah seems to think otherwise… she says you must listen to four to five other members of the panel. I think she should go back to law school,” he said.
She said it was the Bar’s position that under the Federal Constitution, the exercise of the power to grant pardons vested in the king must be exercised on advice, and that the king shall accept in accordance with such advice.
During the press conference, Shafee also highlighted what he described as discrepancies in the press release issued by the Pardons Board last week to announce Najib’s commuted sentence.
He also said that the statement seemed to suggest that the Pardons Board made the decision and not the king.
Shafee reiterated Najib’s innocence and said that the RM42 million which entered Najib’s account was all used for charity and elections, and not for his own use.
He said that his client should not have even seen a day in jail, as his right to a fair trial had been impinged.
“This pardon was anchored on the lack of fair trial, not on his sentence. For SRC, he shouldn’t be in prison for a day because his constitutional right was not given during the trials,” he said.
Last Friday, the Pardons Board released a brief statement which said that Najib's release date would now be pushed forward to Aug 23, 2028, with the RM210 million fine reduced to RM50 million.
The statement added that the 61st Pardons Board meeting chaired by then Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had convened on Monday (Jan 29). Five pardon papers, including Najib's case, had been up for consideration.
Najib, who turns 71 in July, is currently serving his prison sentence in Kajang after the apex court dismissed his final appeal in the RM42 million SRC International case in August 2022. He was originally slapped with a RM210 million fine. It is unclear if the former finance minister has paid his fine, although typically he does have until the end of his jail sentence to do so.
Subsequently, he filed a bid to review the decision. A fresh five-member panel then heard the review and dismissed his application with a majority 4-1 decision.
Reading the majority decision, then Federal Court judge Vernon Ong said there was no miscarriage of justice in the top court's decision.
Najib filed an application for a royal pardon in early September, merely days after beginning his time in prison.