PUTRAJAYA — The Prisons Department has never received any order for house arrest for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said today.
He addressed claims by Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, that the Home Ministry failed to implement an addendum order for Najib to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
“On Feb 2, 2024, the Prisons Department received a letter from the Legal Affairs Division of Prime Minister’s Department (PMD), which is the secretariat to the Pardons Board.
“The letter does not state anything about house arrest. The Prisons Department only implement what is contained in the order,” Saifuddin Nasution told reporters at a press conference today.
He said he PMD’s letter contained only two items, which were the minutes of the board’s meeting on Jan 29, 2024 and an order for the implementation of the board’s decision.
The two decision mentioned in the order are for Najib’s prison term to be reduced until August 23, 2028, and his fine to be reduced to RM50 million, with the condition that if unpaid, his prison term will be increased by one year until August 23, 2029.
Saifuddin Nasution added that the directive to implement the Pardons Board’s decision were signed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as Chairman of the Pardons Board, who was the Sultan of Pahang at the time, and the witness was Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
“It is important to clarify that the Home Ministry and the Prisons Department are not hiding any decision of the Pardons Board or failing to comply with it. We only implement authentic and official orders, as received.
“With this explanation, I wish to make it clear that the Home Ministry has fully implemented the order of His Majesty, as directed by the official order of the Pardon Board. Any claim to the contrary is untrue,” the minister added.
The Court of Appeal today in a 2-1 decision ruled to allow Najib his bid for judicial review over the addendum order and sent his application back to the high court which had dismissed it last year.
Shafee outside the court later told reporters that “someone was hiding the addendum order” as it had been provided to the Pardons Board and its secretariat.
Najib filed his application for judicial review on the addendum order on April 1 last year after receiving a reduced sentence and fine for his conviction for corruption in the SRC International case. He accused the government of denying him justice by not implementing the order for his house arrest.
The Home Minister and Prisons Commissioner-General are among respondents named by Najib in his judicial review.
Other respondents are the Malaysian Government, the Attorney-General; the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya; the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD) (Law and Institutional Reform) and Director-General of Legal Affairs Division at PMD. – January 6, 2025
