Allowing former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to serve the rest of his prison sentence at home will undermine the rule of law, said Projek Sama.
The NGO, in a statement today, said this is because the home minister has not made any regulation to enable home detentions.
It explained that Section 43 of the Prisons Act 1995 allows any prisoner to be released “on licence”, subject to “any regulation made by the minister”.
“Effectively freeing Najib in the name of home detention would be an affront to the rule of law.
“It would be a blatant demonstration of ‘double standards’ of law enforcement.
“Worse, it would be a subversion of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, a subversion of the very foundation of the Malaysian state,” the group said.
It added that house detention is not provided for in any law and only Parliament and the government can make laws.
Substituting time in prison with time at home amounts to making a new law, the group said, pointing out that this amounts to encroaching on the right of Parliament and the government to make laws.
Projek Sama was referring to an alleged “addendum order” issued by former Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah in January, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s affidavit confirming the document’s existence.
Najib is seeking leave from the court to initiate judicial review to enforce the alleged royal addendum, allowing him to serve his time under house arrest instead of in Kajang Prison.
The former Pekan MP is also seeking leave to compel the home minister, attorney-general, Pardons Board, the federal government, and a few other respondents - to confirm the royal addendum’s existence.
Checks by Malaysiakini have found that a house arrest provision currently does not exist in Malaysian law.
In March, Putrajaya agreed in principle to implement a licensed prisoner release, through home detention, for prisoners serving jail time of four years and below, to reduce overcrowding in prisons.
Harming political stability
Meanwhile, Projek Sama called on the government, judiciary and Parliament to act constitutionally and responsibly.
“If constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy are compromised, there will be no political stability and accountability.
“Without political stability and accountability, Malaysia can forget about drawing in high-value foreign investments amid the Sino-American rivalry,” it added.
It reminded the government of the 1988 judicial crisis, warning against undermining Parliament’s exclusive law-making powers for political expediency.
Previously, rights group Aliran urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to come clean over the purported addendum involving Najib’s house arrest application.
It pointed out that the federal government is represented on the Pardons Board and, therefore, he should not be in the dark over the matter.
On March 4, Projek Sama questioned if the introduction of home detentions as an alternative to imprisonment “for some prisoners” could be abused to free powerful convicts like Najib.
It urged for a white paper on the topic before its implementation to prevent double standards from being applied to prisoners.
In response, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Najib is not on the list of prisoners who will be serving time via home arrest. - Mkini
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