PETALING JAYA: Jailed former prime minister Najib Razak could make another application to the Federal Territories Pardons Board for a full pardon, retired Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer said.
According to Hamid, nothing in Article 42 of the Federal Constitution (the power of pardon) can prevent the former prime minister from asking for a further reprieve.
“He may make repeated applications to the board and ask whether it will be entertained. Pardon is the prerogative of the sovereign,” he told FMT.
Hamid said the late former youth and sports minister Mokhtar Hashim made a subsequent application for clemency and his sentence was further reduced to a fixed jail term, which eventually saw him freed in or around 1991.
Mokhtar was convicted for the 1982 murder of then Gemencheh assemblyman Taha Talib and had his death sentence commuted first to life imprisonment by the Negeri Sembilan Pardons Board.
Hamid was commenting on the reduction of Najib’s prison sentence from 12 to six years. The former prime minister is scheduled for release on Aug 23, 2028.
His fine of RM210 million was reduced to RM50 million. Najib will have to serve another year in prison if he fails to pay the fine.
Najib began his initial 12-year prison term on Aug 23, 2022, following the Federal Court’s dismissal of his final appeal in the SRC International trial.
Hamid said it must be remembered that a dissenting judge in the Federal Court’s 4-1 decision to dismiss Najib’s bid to review its ruling had held that judicial procedure had not been followed correctly.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli said there appeared to be a miscarriage of justice in the main appeal process as Najib was not represented by a counsel of his choice.
His then lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said he was not prepared to submit and subsequently sought to discharge himself. - FMT
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