Home ministry yet to receive letter on Najib’s pardon

 Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says his ministry cannot make preparations until it is provided with the details of the conditional pardon.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his ministry must first see whether the FTPB had already assigned a specific location for Najib Razak to be placed under house arrest or if it left it to the prisons department.

PETALING JAYA:

The home ministry has yet to be formally informed by the Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB) about allowing Najib Razak to serve his remaining jail term under house arrest if he settles his RM50 million fine.

Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the ministry and the prisons department cannot make the necessary preparations until they receive the letter and are informed of the details of the conditional pardon.

“I am still waiting to be informed; usually it comes from the Prime Minister’s Department’s legal affairs division, which is the FTPB’s secretariat.

“Once we’ve been informed, we’ll have clarity on the next steps to execute the decision in line with the legal provisions,” he said at a press conference in Kedah today.

He declined to comment if Najib’s home at Taman Duta was suitable for him to be placed under house arrest, saying his ministry must first see if the FTPB had already assigned a specific location or left it to the prisons department.

Saifuddin also said Malaysia does not have a specific law concerning house arrest, but pointed out that he was working on a bill to allow house arrests, particularly for remand detainees.

“I had already obtained the Cabinet’s agreement in principle to start the process to table a house arrest bill in Parliament.

“If approved, it would allow us to place remand inmates under house arrests, while making them wear devices that allow us to track their movements.

“That was the original intention,” he said. - FMT