Addendum: Terrirudin should be recused, not benched - Amanah

Summary

• Amanah secretary-general Faiz Fadzil says former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh should be recused from hearing cases about Najib Abdul Razak’s addendum.

• This comes after lawyers Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Hasnal Rezue Merican suggested Terrirudin be temporarily benched until the royal addendum issue is resolved.

Former attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh should be recused as a Federal Court judge from hearing cases about the royal addendum involving Najib Abdul Razak, according to Amanah secretary-general Muhammad Faiz Fadzil.

In a statement today, Faiz said this should be done instead of temporarily benching Terrirudin.

“It is unreasonable for him (Terrirudin) to influence the decision of the addendum case because the judiciary today is seen as an independent body.

“Therefore, any decision regarding the addendum case must be heard and decided fairly and without influence,” Faiz (above) said.

Yesterday, lawyers Haniff Khatri Abdulla and Hasnal Rezua Merican suggested that Terrirudin be temporarily benched as a Federal Court judge until the royal addendum issue is resolved.

Hasnal said Terrirudin’s mistakes over the royal addendum had misled the Kuala Lumpur High Court, resulting in the decision dismissing Najib’s legal action to affirm the addendum’s existence.

It had also led Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to mislead Parliament when he had called the document mere “hearsay”, Hasnal added.

Hasnal said decisions in the Federal Court also become legally binding.

Addendum issue

The issue revolves around a supplementary royal decree issued on Jan 29 last year that permitted incarcerated Najib to serve the remainder of his jail sentence as house arrest.

Terrirudin was the AG when the Pardons Board sat and gave Najib a discount on his jail time and fine. Dusuki Mokhtar succeeded him in November last year.

The addendum was attached to the main royal decree for the discounting of the former premier’s 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine to six years in jail and RM50 million fine.

Najib has been serving time at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, in relation to his conviction in an abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering case involving RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

Najib is relying on the existence of the royal addendum to back his civil court bid to compel the Home Ministry and the Prison Department to execute the house arrest.

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