The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) says its request to defer the implementation of Najib Razak’s house arrest was not an attempt to dispute the conditional pardon granted to the former prime minister.
In a statement on Saturday, the AGC said the issue was the legal effect of the Order of Discharge issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday after Najib’s RM50 million fine was paid. “The AGC stresses that it does not in any way dispute, set aside or intend to suspend the conditional pardon order granted by His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” it said.
It said it had always upheld the rule of law and recognised the King’s prerogative of pardon under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, and that it was inaccurate to equate its view that a legal question needed to be decided by the court with claims that the attorney-general had usurped the royal prerogative.
The AGC said the dispute was over whether the discharge order dealt only with the payment of the fine, allowing Najib to serve the rest of his SRC International sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, or whether it meant his six-year sentence had been completed. It said this had a bearing on his 15-year sentence in the 1MDB case, which is due to begin after the SRC International sentence ends.
It said the legal implications of the order should be referred to the court immediately for a clear determination. “This step is not intended to undermine or frustrate the implementation of the conditional pardon, but rather to avoid any conflict in the implementation of valid orders and ensure that no sentence is enforced unlawfully,” the AGC said.
The statement came after Istana Negara said earlier on Saturday that the conditional pardon was clear and unambiguous, and that challenging it would amount to defying the King’s decree.