G25 SAYS RESCIND THE PARDON. SYABAS. FANTASTIC STATEMENT. PERSATUAN-PERSATUAN "ISLAM" PULA MEMBISU. HAPRAK KE?

 Folks the G25 has come out with their Press Statement on the Pardon. Here it is with some slight editing. My comments in blue.

"We express our profound hope and expectation that the matter could be revisited at an early meeting of the Pardons Board to rescind the decision to grant DS Najib a partial pardon" 

 

Those entrusted to uphold justice and the law must not on any account betray that trust. We, in G25, earnestly hope that what had happened will never recur in the future.

 

 

 

G25 Statement on Dato’ Seri Najib’s sentence reduction by the Pardon’s Board

We, members of G25, feel shocked by the decision of the Pardons Board to grant Dato’ Seri Najib Razak a 50% reduction of his 12 years sentence of imprisonment and a substantial reduction of his fine from RM210 million to a mere RM50 million! We feel so in light of the gravity of the crime that DS Najib had committed and the huge sum embezzled, i.e. RM42 million.

We, in common with other civil society organisations, honestly feel that, given the circumstances of the case, the Pardons Board decision had unfortunately resulted in a travesty of the justice system. As such we respectfully request that the Pardons Board provides the public with a written reason for such a decision. Or, at the very least, furnish the public with the written opinion of the Attorney General to the Pardons Board pursuant to Article 42(9) of the Federal Constitution.

Let us consider the facts. In July 2020 DS Najib was found guilty by the High Court of Kuala Lumpur of three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering, of money belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd; and one count of abuse of power. He was sentenced to 72 years in jail for the seven charges. As they were concurrent, he was required by law to serve 12 years. He was also fined RM210 million. The fine remains unpaid.

His appeal was unanimously dismissed by the Court of Appeal. His appeal to the Federal Court was also unanimously dismissed by a panel of 5 Judges. His application for review before the Federal Court was dismissed by the Court by a majority of 4 against 1. 

A substantial amount of energy, time and resources had been expended by the MACC and the office of the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute DS Najib before the Courts; from the High Court right up to the Federal Court. And to secure conviction. 

Thirteen (13) Judges had found DS Najib guilty of all the charges preferred against him.

In considering the reasonableness or otherwise of the Pardons Board’s decision, we also must not lose sight of the fact that DS Najib has only served 17 months of a 144-month sentence. He has three other pending criminal cases. One of these cases involves his receipt of some US$600 million (RM2.85 billion) in his personal bank account. 

The trial of this case has spanned three years, with many prosecution witnesses having given evidence about DS Najib’s involvement in 1MDB affairs. In another on-going case, DS Najib and Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah are jointly charged with six criminal breaches of trust (CBT) involving RM6.64 billion of government funds in their capacity as Finance Minister and Treasury Secretary General respectively.

DS Najib is also facing a tax recovery action case. The Inland Revenue is proceeding with its case to recover RM1.7 billion in unpaid taxes. In light of all these facts, we find it highly incredible that his sentences had been drastically reduced by the Pardons Board. All the more so when DS Najib had not admitted his guilt, had not shown remorse, and had not made any restitution of the money that he had embezzled.

(OSTB : RM2.85B + RM6.64B + RM1.7B = RM11.19 BILLION)

We fear that the decision of the Pardons Board would create a bad precedent. And it would result in the justice system in Malaysia being the subject of ridicule internationally.

According to former Attorney General, Tan Sri Tommy Thomas, as a matter of convention, among the criteria for a pardon is that the prisoner, firstly, must have served one-third of his jail sentence before applying for pardon. Secondly, he must not have any other criminal cases pending. In  the case of DS Najib, he has yet to serve one-third of his jail sentence of 12 years. And he has other criminal cases pending. 

However, we are told by an UMNO Supreme Council member that he thanked madani for DS Najib’s early  hearing (Umno leader thanks madani, Zahid for Najib’s ‘early’ pardon hearing, Malaysiakini Feb 3, 2024).  He is reported to have said – 

We would like to thank madani because by right, Najib’s pardon petition can only be heard by the Pardons Board after going through one-third of his sentence. But due to efforts by the president (Zahid) and raised by madani, Najib’s petition was heard ‘early’ by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Now, why should madani and DS Zahid be involved in fast-tracking DS Najib’s application? Further, by fast-tracking DS Najib’s application for pardon before the Pardons Board, whilst there are many other prisoners in the queue waiting for their pardon applications to be heard, isn’t this being inconsistent with Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which provides for equality before the law? Shouldn’t DS Najib wait for his turn to have his application heard before the Pardons Board, like everyone else?

By virtue of Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, the power of pardon resides with His Majesty the King. As such it is imperative that the power be exercised with dignity and wisdom. Irrelevant considerations must be cast aside. The law is no respecter of persons. Justice must always be upheld no matter what.

Those entrusted to uphold justice and the law must not on any account betray that trust. We, in G25, earnestly hope that what had happened will never recur in the future. 

Finally, in view of the above, and given the seriousness of the matter that will certainly affect the image and credibility of our nation, both domestically and internationally, we express our profound hope and expectation that the matter could be revisited at an early meeting of the Pardons Board to rescind the decision to grant DS Najib a partial pardon.
 

G25 Malaysia
5 February 2024

 

My Comments :

Thank you G25. This is a fantastic statement. The statement is self-explanatory.

There are a few elephants in the room that need to be addressed.

Elephant no. 1 is planet earth's greatest reformer. Perhaps on the same level as Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Siddharta and Russell Peters. No one is addressing him. Mandela Mahatma Siddharta has totally taken everyone for a ride for the past 41 years or more. His calls for "reformasi" have been and are as fake as a fake can be. And might I add 'I told you so, for the past 26 years or more. 

For those of you who disagreed with me all these years over my views about this fellow  you can please go and eat crow (eat crow,  informal, North American -   be humiliated by having to admit one's defeats or mistakes).

Elephant no. 2 is the DAP.  For the DAP I would like to use simpler language. You fellows know the lorong belakang Chow Kit there or not? You should go there late at night, guys only and  collect some votes. I think you will do well there. I hope the DAP realises that this is the end of the road for you in politics, certainly at the federal level.  

This is the second time the DAP is blowing its chances. The DAP had the first bite at doing some real reform in the 2018 Government. But you screwed up. You got kicked out. 

It took another two years for you to get back into gomen. And now you have screwed up again - for the second time. With 40 seats you are the 2nd largest party in Parliament, bigger than PKR yet you cannot exert your influence for the good of 34 million people. You do not right the wrongs through renewable energy and other weird projects.

Elephant no 3. Hello kepada persatuan-persatuan "agama" dsbnya kenapa you all membisu seribu bahasa? Para ustaz dan pandita-pandita "agama" semuanya membisu. Orang sedang melihat-lah betapa betul dan lurus 'agama' kau orang.   Malulah kau orang semua-nya membisu. Termasuk persatuan-persatuan pengguna, NGO yang menggunakan jenama "Islam". Say something-lah.

Conclusion : This episode has exposed what I have been saying for a long, long time - the hypocrisy that has been strutting around the country, masquerading as 'we are the good people'. You have failed miserably.  Please go and eat shit and die. I hope you will appreciate the level of intellect that should suit you.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.