KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyer has sought to address the High Court over Minister of International Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s application to seek leave to file his affidavit with regard to the purported addendum order to the Federal Territory Pardons Board’s decision that allegedly allows the former prime minister (Najib) to serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
This was raised by Messrs Shafee & Co in a letter to High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh’s secretary, which gave three dates, namely May 2, May 23 and May 30, for Messrs Shafee & Co to address the court, before the judge is scheduled to deliver his decision on June 5 on whether to grant leave for Najib’s bid to hear the merits of his application.
The email, dated April 29, found in a file search by The Edge, revealed that the three dates are given for Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to be present and make his submissions, and that his (Shafee’s) presence is vital.
Initially, the High Court had fixed Tuesday to hear the matter, but as Shafee has another matter at the Federal Court with regard to a review of a death sentence case, he asked for Tuesday’s hearing to be deferred.
As a result of this, Amarjeet proceeded to fix this Thursday (May 2) to hear Zafrul’s application in the afternoon.
It remains uncertain whether Najib or the Attorney General Chambers (AGC) representing the respondents, which include the government and two ministers — namely Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Legal and Institutional Reform)Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said — along with the Federal Territory Pardons Board, would object to Zafrul’s application.
Prior to this, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had affirmed an affidavit in support of Najib, citing that he saw the addendum order showed to him by Zafrul on his handphone after Zafrul had come to Zahid’s house on Jan 30, confirming the house arrest order.
“I was informed by him (Zafrul) of the addendum order. Upon querying further, he (Zafrul) showed me a copy of the addendum order from his phone, which showed a scan of the original copy,” said Zahid in his affidavit.
“The contents of the addendum order expressly stated that the applicant (Najib) be allowed to serve his reduced sentence of his imprisonment under condition of ‘house arrest’ instead of the current prison confinement in Kajang Prison. I further sighted the addendum order [dated] Jan 29, which had the seal and signature of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
“I further confirm that the addendum order is genuine and in fact, the royal prerogative order [is] the main order,” the deputy prime minister, who is also Umno president, had said in the affidavit.
Since the revelation, Zafrul, in a statement, claimed that there are factual errors in Zahid’s affidavit, and on April 22, through his lawyers from Messrs Cecil Abraham and Partners, had sought the court’s leave to file his affidavit, resulting in this coming Thursday’s hearing.
Najib, in his judicial review application, is seeking a mandamus order to compel the production of the original copy of the main pardon order, along with the addendum order by the then king, which purportedly orders for the former prime minister to be placed under house arrest for the duration of his reduced sentence of six years in jail and a RM50 million fine.
He is presently serving his jail sentence at Kajang Prison.
The Malaysian Bar has also filed a judicial review to quash the purported pardon bid by Najib that resulted in the reduced sentence.