KUALA LUMPUR – Law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has disagreed with the government’s move to apply for a court gag order on public discussions on purported royal addendum for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s home imprisonment.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said the supplementary order is already widely discussed amongst the public.
“In my personal view, I don’t think there should be a gag order (as the issue concerning the royal addendum) is already in the public domain and Parliament will be sitting next month (when) all this will be raised again,” said Azalina, who is also the Umno information chief.
She added, however, that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) might have “legal reasons” behind its move to seek a gag order.
“(The AGC) needs to submit their application (for a gag order) to the court and let the court make a decision. The court must be respected,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the International Political Financing Conference 2025 at the Majestic Hotel here today.
Asked by the media for details on who the potential gag order would apply to, Azalina said she is not in the know regarding the “extent” of the application as she is not “in charge of” the AGC, which is parked under the Prime Minister’s Department.
In response to a question on what the rationale behind the gag order application could be, the minister said: “Even I cannot answer that.”
Yesterday, Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters that the former Umno president’s legal team will oppose the AGC’s application for a prohibitive and gag order as the addendum is deemed a public interest issue.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan confirmed the AGC’s request for a gag order, and that the judge had directed the government to file a formal application by January 20, following which Najib will be given a week to reply.
“We applied for the order and asked that it remain in force pending the outcome of the hearing as it touches on sensitive issues,” Shamsul was quoted saying by media.
The AGC is also objecting to applications by lawyers to hold watching briefs for opposition Perikatan Nasional figures on the addendum case which is to be re-heard in the high court after the Court of Appeal allowed Najib leave for his judicial review on the matter to be heard.
The high court has ordered parties applying for watching briefs to file their applications by Jan 27, after which Shamsul said the AGC will file an affidavit in reply by Feb 10.
Meanwhile, Azalina today deflected requests for confirmation on the alleged leak of the Pardons Board meeting minutes concerning Najib’s pardon application, instead directing the media to ministers who sit as members of the board.
On January 10, the Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) of the Prime Minister’s Department revealed that proceedings and information concerning the Pardons Board are subject to the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.
The division – acting as the secretariat for the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya – also confirmed that no additional documents related to Najib’s pardon application are present in its files or official records.
It also clarified that it had not received any official notifications or directives from Istana Negara regarding the matter. – January 14, 2025
