Brader Anwar's Pardon : A Case Of "Act In Haste And Regret At Your Leisure"?

 

• PUTRAJAYA (Jan 20): Court of Appeal fixed July 28 to hear Anwar appeal 
• against High Court's refusal to strike out challenge over pardon 

Sept 2020 Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir dismissed Anwar's bid to strike out
ruled lawyer Khairul Nizam had locus standi to file challenge
member of public, qualified, triable issues need to be heard in full, Akhtar ruled

• suit filed on Feb 26 last year, named Anwar, Pardons Board 
• Claiming formation of Pardons Board on May 16, 2018 wrong and illegal
• questioning advice given by board to Agong in recommending pardon
• He wants court to declare advice given null and void

2nd challenge on Anwar's pardon since release from prison after 2018 GE
serving 5-year term after his conviction in his second sodomy trial

My comments : It looks like this thing may not go away just yet. 

Here is something from Free Malaysia Today about this case from last year :

(FMT) – High Court held pardon not exclusive right of Agong 
but exercise of executive power by monarch on advice
Judge Akhtar Tahir - Superintendent of Pudu Prison vs Sim Kie Chon (1986)
ruling that pardon is ‘royal prerogative of mercy’ is erroneous” Akhtar 

• 16-page judgment, Akhtar said King’s appointment of PM not justiciable 
• However pardon is justiciable he said
• Akhtar said could not be equated to England
• pardon cannot be ruled not justiciable just because exercised by Agong 
• dereliction of duty by the court for refusing to hear the matter

Khairul seeking declaration Pardons Board not legally constituted
judge said Pardons Board legally constituted 
but role of AG Apandi Ali, on garden leave, questionable
Akhtar said Pardons Board shall consider written opinion AG may have 
question whether there was written opinion by AG in this case
Was he allowed to give a written opinion? 
Can this written opinion be delegated?” 
these were matters not addressed in affidavits
judge said question arose if executive could encroach into judiciary 

• early 2015 Federal Court affirmed Anwar 5 year jail term over sodomising aide
• Anwar said May 16, 2018 King pardoned abuse of power, Sodomy 1, Sodomy 2 
• on basis that there was a “miscarriage of justice”

My Comments : A late colleague of mine had once worked for the Pardons Board.  He said that for any pardons case, getting pardoned over any convicted crime is a long and involved process with multi layers of inputs.  It is not done in a day or a few days.  

One of the requirements in the pardon process is a thorough reading and going through of the entire trials proceedings. This is very tedious work, especially if the trial, plus any appeals had been long with thousands of pages of Court documents to be reviewed. 

The purpose of this tedious process is to look for any snippets in the trial proceedings, in the Courts judgement etc that may or may not support a pardon. My late colleague said that sometimes (for pardoning a death sentence) even witnesses in the trial would be interviewed again to assist with the Pardon's process. 

In short it is not done in a day or two.  Obviously this is where the AG's role would come in although personally I see a conflict of interest (from the point of view of any convicted person) because how can the AGC be expected to give a fair view when it is the AG which prosecutes cases in the first place? It should be from a neutral party.

Anyway brader Anwar had said at a Press Conference on May 16, 2018 that the King had pardoned ALL THREE of his previous Court convictions ie abuse of power (1999??), Sodomy 1 and Sodomy 2. 

Wow! So did the AG (or whoever) go through the entire Court proceedings and Court papers from 1999 until 2015 in about SIX days? (Between May 10 and May 16, 2018). I really doubt this.

Many people were surprised when the then King pardoned brader Anwar in double quick time.  So can the same courtesy be extended to the thousands of other convicted criminals in the jails in our country? I mean his party is called Parti Keadilan Rakyat. So the same keadilan must also be extended to other "deserving" cases.

I believe Atok must have had a role in arranging the Pardon as well because he was already in office (May 10, 2018). The King pardoned brader Anwar on 16 May, 2018.

I think Atok will be having the last laugh about this.

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