The family of Anwar Ibrahim has disputed the decision made by the Pardons Board that it had rejected the petition for pardon for the opposition leader, currently serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomy.

 

Family members who filed the petition, wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and her daughters, Nurul Izzah Anwar and Nurul Nuha Anwar, and Anwar himself have yet to receive the letter confirming the decision.

 

Anwar's lawyer Latheefa Koya said the Pardons Board’s decision should have been conveyed in the form of a letter from the Agong, who is chairperson of the board.

"In this matter, the decision was made by the Pardons Board who refer they rejected a petition under Regulations 113 of the Prisons Regulation under the Prisons Act 1995. Regulations 113 is regarding the petition from the person seeking a pardon.

"However, Anwar's family did not make the pardon application under Regulation 113 and hence the dispute. Following this, the family members questioned the decision which was conveyed by the Prime Minister’s Department Legal Affairs division director-general Nursiah Arshad who is the secretariat for the Pardons Board," she told reporters.

Latheefa said because of this, the lawyers continued their submissions for leave for Anwar, who is the elected representative for Permatang Pauh, to attend Parliament.

However, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Asmabi Mohamad decided to dismiss the leave application, based on Nursiah's affidavit.

"She also granted costs of RM3,000 to be paid by Anwar," said Latheefa.

The lawyer said they will appeal today’s decision for as far as they are concerned, the Agong has yet to make a decision. If the Pardons Board make a decision, the Agong is not bound by it as he has the independence to make his own decision.

Anwar had named the home minister and the prisons department as respondents in the application to attend this Parliament session, which ends on April 9.

Latheefa said the Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia has not received such a letter and thus questioned how could the seat be declared vacant.

Anwar disqualified as MP

Anwar’s family had made the application to the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution and not Regulation 113.

Senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh, who heads the Civil Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, said the Pardons Board had held a meeting on March 16 with the Agong in attendance.

“We submitted that on the March 16, the Agong attended at the Pardons Board meeting and had rejected the application by the applicant.

“Since the disqualification to be an MP takes effect after the federal constitution Article 48 (4) (c), the applicant is disqualified as MP and there is no reason for leave application to proceed,” he told reporters after appearing from the judge’s chambers.

The Article states the disqualification shall take effect immediately upon the petition being disposed of.

On Friday, it was previously reported that the Pardons Board has disposed of the petition and the opposition leader will be disqualified as a member of parliament.

However, the court has fixed today to confirm the decision by the board.