PUTRAJAYA, Jan 31 — The federal Cabinet today discussed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pardon application but has no power over the matter, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Instead, he said it was solely the Pardons Board’s purview to decide Najib’s 12-year prison sentence from his conviction for the misappropriation of SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million.
“Today, in regards to him (Najib), we were informed briefly. But it is not the Cabinet that has jurisdiction. Because the Pardons Board, as in the (Federal) Constitution, is clearly stated under the jurisdiction of who its members are, and how.
“So, we discussed it, but we understand that this is under the jurisdiction of the board itself,” he said in a press conference at his ministry, here.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, who attended the Pardons Board meeting, was quoted by Berita Harian as saying that the board is expected to issue a statement on Najib’s application for a royal pardon.
On Monday, local daily Utusan Malaysia reported that the Pardons Board would meet on that day itself and that the meeting would be chaired by the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Riáyatuddin Mustafa Billah Shah, and with one of the meeting’s agenda to be regarding Najib’s pardons bid.
The Pahang ruler ended his reign as the country’s 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong today.
Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar was inaugurated as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a five-year term today.
Najib has been jailed since August 23, 2022, after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering in relation to funds of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
To date, Najib has been in prison for more than one year and five months.
Najib filed his application for a pardon on September 2, 2022, which was just days after he started serving his 12-year jail term at Kajang Prison.
As Najib’s SRC offences were allegedly committed in the Federal Territories, the Pardons Board tasked with considering his application is the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories.
Under the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong chairs the meetings of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories, which comprises the attorney-general, the Federal Territories minister, and a maximum of three other members appointed by the Agong.
To know how the royal pardon process works in Malaysia, read here for a summary by Malay Mail.