Former Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali has questioned the apparent change in the Attorney-General’s position over Najib Razak’s house arrest, insisting that the Pardons Board’s decision granting the former prime minister a conditional pardon is clear and must be implemented without deviation.
Apandi said the decision allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest should be carried out according to the terms already determined by the Pardons Board.
He pointed to Article 42(9) of the Federal Constitution, which states that the Pardons Board must consider any written opinion submitted by the Attorney-General before providing its advice on a matter.
“Of course, the Attorney-General’s views for the purpose of the pardon must have been in favour of granting the pardon.
“So, why does the Attorney-General now appear to be changing his position on the pardon issue? This situation is highly unreasonable,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Apandi also backed the position expressed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim that there was no ambiguity in the Pardons Board’s decision concerning Najib’s house arrest.
He further cited Articles 4, 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution, highlighting that the Constitution is the supreme law of the country, while Article 5 protects personal liberty and Article 8 guarantees equality before the law.
“The law applies to everyone. Refer to Article 8 (equality) of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Article 8(1) provides, among other things, that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection under it.
In September, the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) announced that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had granted Najib a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028, provided he paid a RM50 million fine.
On Friday, Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Farhan Shafee confirmed that the former Pekan MP had settled the RM50 million fine at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Registry.
Najib was convicted in July 2020 of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd and sentenced to 12 years in prison, alongside a RM210 million fine. The Federal Court upheld his conviction in August 2022.
However, on February 2, 2024, the Pardons Board Secretariat announced that his prison sentence had been reduced by 50%, from 12 years to six years, while his fine was cut from RM210 million to RM50 million.
