MY SUGGESTIONS TO THE PARDONS BOARD

 

Clearly the Pardons Board has made a huge mistake - a blunder of gargantuan proportions.

Firstly there are simple technical errors like granting a 50% sentence reduction when the prisoner is still answering other criminal charges in Court.  If the prisoner were to be found guilty again and sentenced to say another 10 or 12 years it would make that 50% sentence reduction look really silly.

Secondly the prisoner has not yet served even 1/3 of his jail sentence yet he was granted a sentence reduction. 

Thirdly 50% of RM210 million is not RM50.0 million. Half of RM210 million is RM105 million. So how did the Pardons Board give a 76% discount (RM50 million) for the RM210 million fines that are payable? 

But the biggest mistake seems to be the entire pardon itself. Why did the Pardons Board even entertain whatever request for pardon? The prisoner has a right to try his luck and apply for a pardon but the Pardons Board has no obligation to entertain all requests for pardons. They should have just said no.

There is some confusion over what exactly the Pardons Board can pardon. Some say the Pardons Board cannot overturn a conviction. Overturning a conviction can only be done by a Court through an Appeals process or through a retrial. So a Pardons Board can only reduce or commute a sentence that has been decided by the Court.  Say someone has been sentenced to death. The Pardons Board can "commute" the death sentence to  life imprisonment. Or someone who has been jailed for 12 years can have his sentence reduced to six years (for example). But the guilty conviction still remains. The prisoner is still guilty as charged. 

So lets stick to the facts. In the Najib case the Pardons Board reduced the sentence from 12 years to six years. So Najib is still guilty as convicted. The Pardons Board did not (or cannot) overturn Najib's guilty conviction. 

So on what basis did the Pardons Board only reduce his jail term and the fines when Najib's guilty conviction remains intact? And why so soon when Najib has not even completed 1/3 of his sentence. Can the Pardons Board explain? 

What were the extenuating circumstances that did not allow for overturning his guilty conviction but his sentencing was reduced? And his fine was also reduced.

I would suggest that the Pardons Board had doubled the fines on Najib to RM420 Million in exchange for having his sentence halved. You can get out in half the time so you pay double the fine. 

And this whole 1MDB scandal has been a great financial loss to the 34 million citizens and taxpayers of Malaysia. Billions of Ringgit of public funds were pilfered out. I would have preferred that the Pardons Board make Najib's early release conditional upon him returning ALL the moneys that he stole - the exact amount to be agreed upon by the Pardons Board precedent to an early release. "Ok your sentence is reduced but you cannot go home early to enjoy all the money you stole from the taxpayer. You must first return all the money that you stole."

That could have been more palatable for the people. Or it may not. But at least recover the public funds that were stolen.

Instead what the Pardons Board has done is to tell Najib, 'You are still guilty. You are a bad boy. But your sentence is reduced by half and your fine is reduced by 76%. You can go home early and enjoy the rest of the money that you stole'.

Where is the logic or the rationale in this decision?

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