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LFL: Anwar, govt must take full responsibility for Najib's pardon
Lawyers for Liberty director Rania Aljunied said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government must shoulder “full responsibility” for the pardon granted to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
In a statement today, she said members of the Federal Territories Pardons Board are linked to the government or appointed on Putrajaya’s advice.
She also pointed to the Federal Constitution, which states that...
Lawyers for Liberty director Rania Aljunied said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government must shoulder “full responsibility” for the pardon granted to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
In a statement today, she said members of the Federal Territories Pardons Board are linked to the government or appointed on Putrajaya’s advice.
She also pointed to the Federal Constitution, which states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong exercises his powers of pardon on the board’s advice, and cited Anwar’s 2023 Court of Appeal case against lawyer Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, in which the judge ruled that “the royal prerogative of mercy... is an executive power”.
"It is legally and constitutionally impossible for Anwar and the government to escape responsibility for Najib’s release from prison into house arrest or to pretend that they had nothing to do with it," she asserted.
She urged the Pardons Board to meet again and provide “revised advice” to the ruler in line with constitutional provisions and the rule of law.
Yesterday, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar granted Najib a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest, provided the former Pekan MP pays a RM50 million fine and complies with all conditions.
In response, Anwar said the pardon falls under the sole discretion of the ruler, while his duty as prime minister was merely to provide advice on legal implications, national stability, and the rule of law.
He assured that the government’s commitment to fighting graft remains unaffected, a position affirmed by the Pakatan Harapan presidential council.
The prime minister also said the clemency does not mean the country is bowing to corruption or thievery.
READ MORE: Analysts: Neither Harapan nor BN gets 'complete victory' from Najib's conditional pardon
Separately, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) urged the government to publicly disclose information related to Najib’s pardon, including the legal basis for the house arrest, the conditions imposed, how they would be monitored and enforced, and safeguards against perceptions of “double standards”.
CIJ executive director Wathshlah G Naidu also reiterated calls for a right to information law, citing the Madani government’s commitments to accountability.
"A credible anti-corruption agenda cannot rest solely on the investigation and prosecution of corruption.
"It must also guarantee transparency in the institutions and processes that determine how consequences imposed for corruption are subsequently altered or administered," she said in a statement today.
Lingering financial burden
PKR Youth chief Kamil Abdul Munim said Najib’s pardon does not erase the effects of the 1MDB scandal on Malaysia’s reputation and finances.
Stressing his wing’s respect for the Agong’s powers of pardon, he said the government remains burdened with liabilities of at least RM20.1 billion, including RM8.9 billion in 1MDB sukuk obligations.
"Every sen allocated to service the interest and principal of this 1MDB debt represents funds diverted from national development expenditure.
"Those billions of ringgit should have been channelled towards building new schools, upgrading public hospital facilities, strengthening rural infrastructure, and providing welfare assistance to the needy," he said in a statement yesterday.
READ MORE: Najib gets house arrest - but how he'll be tracked remains unclear
Meanwhile, court decisions and the pardoning process were “distinct matters”, said Umno information chief Azalina Othman Said.
Responding to criticism from Harapan leaders in a statement today, the de facto law minister said it was “inappropriate” to suggest that royal pardons were above or outside the law, as the power is expressly provided for under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution.
"The existence of the constitutional power of pardon does not mean that a court’s decision is disregarded," she said.
Pardon limited to SRC case
Yesterday, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar confirmed that the pardon only applies to the jail sentence imposed on Najib in the SRC International case, in which he was convicted of seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power, and money laundering involving more than RM42 million.
He was first convicted on all seven charges by the High Court in July 2020 following a lengthy trial, and sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million.
Najib began serving his jail term on Aug 23, 2022, after both the Court of Appeal and Federal Court dismissed his appeals and upheld his conviction.
However, on Jan 29, 2024, the Pardons Board halved his 12-year prison sentence to six years and reduced the RM210 million fine to RM50 million.
Najib may have to return to prison as he is still facing several other criminal cases in court.
These include a 15-year jail sentence handed down by the Kuala Lumpur High Court last year, which convicted him on 25 charges in a separate 1MDB case. The court also ordered Najib to pay a fine of RM11.38 billion.
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The house arrest is a disgrace to the legal system of the country. Law of the Jungle.
LFL and CIJ, why aren't you mentioning the other culpable party for Najib's pardon? Cat got your tongue?
In his Why Not column in The Star today, Dorairaj Nadeson writes that the haze shrouding Malaysia is no joke — and adds that it is not merely the air that has become hazy; many other things have become difficult to see clearly. That observation resonates in the wake of the recent decision granting Datuk Seri Najib Razak a conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until 23 August 2028, with the fine reduced to RM50 million. It inevitably brings to mind the observations of Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah in the 1MDB-Tanore trial, particularly his memorable remark that the scale of the financial wrongdoing was such that “Attila the Hun look[ed] like a choirboy by comparison.” The analogy was not meant literally. Attila the Hun has long symbolised conquest, destruction and plunder. By invoking him, the learned judge sought to convey the extraordinary magnitude of the financial wrongdoing established before the court. What makes the comparison particularly powerful is that Attila was an external conqueror who seized wealth by force. The 1MDB case, by contrast, concerned the misuse of resources entrusted to those holding positions of authority. The issue was therefore not merely the enormous sums involved, but the profound breach of fiduciary responsibility and public trust. The consequences went beyond financial loss. The 1MDB affair damaged Malaysia's international reputation and public confidence, while the complexity and international reach of the transactions made it an extraordinary case in both scale and sophistication. The recent exercise of clemency does not erase the judicial findings. Nor does it settle the wider questions of accountability, constitutional responsibility and public confidence that naturally arise from such a decision. Perhaps this is the deeper meaning of the “haze” Dorairaj speaks of. The greatest danger is not simply that we cannot see clearly, but that the principles of accountability, fiduciary responsibility and the rule of law themselves become obscured. Justice Sequerah's “Attila the Hun” analogy therefore remains a powerful reminder of the magnitude of what the courts found in the 1MDB case — and of why clarity, accountability and public confidence matter so profoundly in the aftermath.
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