MP SPEAKS | Since the Federal Court reaffirmed the decisions of the High Court and the Court of Appeal respectively in convicting Najib Abdul Razak for all the seven criminal indictments, I have been unceasingly bombarded with this question: "YB, would it be fit and proper for Najib to be granted a royal pardon?"
Truth be said. This question is too hard for me to answer.
If I am merely asked whether the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is clothed with the power to grant clemency to Najib, it would be relatively easier for me.
As far as the legal position is concerned, it is crystal clear that - based on a plethora of legal precedents - the King has the power to grant a royal pardon to Najib.
Such an enormous power is duly enshrined in our apex law.
Several judgments by Malaysian courts categorically declared that our constitutional King is duly given the power of mercy. And such power is encapsulated in the following words "it is a power of high prerogative of mercy".
In one English case, judge Lord Kenneth Diplock succinctly canvassed in his judgment, the essence of mercy in these beautiful phrases "...mercy is not the subject of legal rights. It begins when legal rights end!"
The King has the power…
Be that as it may, I wish to reiterate herein that should I be asked whether the King has the power to grant a pardon to Najib, my answer would be a resounding "yes. The power for the King to grant clemency to Najib is constitutionally accorded to the King".
Nevertheless, if one asks me whether it would be apt for the King to forgive and pardon Najib, I am not in any position to offer any answer to such a tough query.
Apart from that, it would be premature for me to prejudge the ultimate decision of our King. It would be equally unfair to jump the gun.
The least I could possibly do is to offer a few probabilities which our constitutional King may possibly and deeply consider before he finally decides either to pardon or not to pardon Najib.
I sincerely believe that our King would duly and profoundly consider the unnecessary public backlash in making such a gigantic decision. It would be near impossible, I suppose, for our wise and intelligent King to be oblivious to unnecessary and unfortunate incidents, such as what had happened in Sri Lanka.
In addition to that, I trust our King would also duly consider the nature and the gravity of Najib's crimes, to wit, one offence of abuse of power under Section 23 of the MACC Act, three offences of breach of trust under section 409 of the Penal Code and three offences of money laundering under AMLA.
To add insult to injury, all these crimes were perpetrated while Najib was holding public office as the prime minister and the minister of finance, respectively.
Further, the crimes which were committed by Najib leading to his conviction were not run-of-the-mill offences. Needless to say, they are not only serious and enormous, on the other hand, they also transcended geographical boundaries.
The undisputed fact is that 1MDB and Najib do not only ruin our economy, but they also ruin Malaysia's name and reputation internationally.
I also believe that the King would also take into account the unanimous decisions of our fearless nine judges - duly appointed by the King as stipulated in the Federal Constitution - in convicting Najib as per the charges. Not even a single judge was doubtful of Najib's culpability.
Finally, Najib's loyalists tend to cite this oft-quoted maxim in order to drive home that he should be duly pardoned. The old maxim runs like this: "Justice must be tampered with mercy."
Yes, I fully agree with the aforementioned old adage. Yet, as pointed out by a former senior Indian judge: "It is true that justice must be tampered with mercy. Nevertheless, it would be fallacious to substitute justice with mercy!" - Mkini
MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is the Sepang MP and a former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of legal affairs.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.