PETALING JAYA: A former PKR MP has hit out at Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s “misguided and wrong” comments on Anwar Ibrahim’s royal pardon, saying the caretaker prime minister should check his facts.
R Sivarasa said Ismail should also retract his comments.
“Ismail should read relevant court judgments on the issues he is raising to the public.
“Otherwise, it is irresponsible for a caretaker prime minister to present the issue falsely as if there were no court judgments on it,” he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Ismail had questioned the legitimacy of the pardon granted to the PKR president.
Malaysiakini had reported Ismail as saying the pardon was granted soon after Pakatan Harapan came to power and “at a time when no attorney-general was in office” as Apandi Ali had been sacked.
Ismail also reportedly said the Federal Territories minister should have sat on the Pardons Board, which was not the case.
But Sivarasa said the issues Ismail had highlighted had been raised in a court proceeding where the validity of the pardon was challenged and subsequently dismissed.
He said there was also nothing wrong for the King to pardon Anwar soon after PH took power because the former deputy prime minister had already served over 90% of his five-year jail sentence.
Sivarasa also said Apandi was not sacked but had been asked by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to go on leave.
He said Apandi had also delegated his function on the Pardons Board to solicitor-general Zauyah Loth Khan.
“The High Court and the Court of Appeal decided that such a delegation was perfectly lawful,” he said.
Anwar was granted a full pardon by the King in 2018 for his three convictions – one for abuse of power and two for sodomy – on the basis that there was a “miscarriage of justice”. - FMT
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