The country's legal and judicial system will become a laughing stock if former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is given a pardon, said former chief justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad.
In a statement uploaded on his official website today, Hamid (above) said should the Pardons Board agree to free Najib, it would also lay waste to years of painstaking work done by the MACC and judicial officials in building up a case against him.
"The MACC spent years investigating, the public prosecutor spent months poring through investigation papers, the judges spent years trying the accused, studying and writing hundreds of pages of judgment, and calling multiple witnesses.
"And then, barely two months after Najib is convicted and sentenced to jail and fined millions of ringgit, members of the Pardons Board, with a single stroke of their pen, pardon the accused of all the charges. Just imagine that!" Hamid wrote.
On Aug 23, Najib was sent to jail for 12 years for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering linked to RM42 million of SRC International funds. He was also fined RM210 million as part of his sentence.
He had filed a petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2 and his status as the Pekan MP would depend on the outcome of the petition.
Comparing Najib's crime to that of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who was convicted of sodomy and later accorded a royal pardon in 2018, Hamid said the former's crime is more severe in nature.
"Anwar's crime was against an individual. Najib's crime involves the country's finances.
"Should the monarch pardon him (Najib) just because he is from a party that has won a general election? If that happens, our country and its constitutional monarchy will become a laughing stock," he added.
Facing more charges
The former judge noted that Najib was also facing other charges other than the SRC one, and questioned if he could be pardoned for those crimes too if he was convicted as well.
"The question of whether Najib can be pardoned or not is controversial because it has been politicised," he said.
Hamid further claimed that Anwar was pardoned in 2018 due to the influence wielded by the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had allegedly put the PKR leader in jail in the first place.
"Mahathir did all that (free Anwar) as he needed to topple Najib and jail him for 1MDB-related charges. Now, he (Mahathir) has succeeded - Najib has been convicted and is in jail.
"Anwar's pardon also set a precedent on an accused being pardoned on reasons other than humanitarian-based," said the judge.
Concluding, Hamid strongly stressed that Najib should not be given a pardon, even if Umno/BN wins the 15th general election.
"The precedent set by Anwar's pardon should not be followed to prevent corrupt leaders from coming to power again and to dodge punishments.
"It is also to prevent politicians from using the constitutional monarchy and the pardon system to remain in power," Hamid added. - Mkini
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