Mahathir says Najib's royal pardon 'highly likely'; electoral watchdog petition hits more than 103,000 signatures

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Dr Mahathir Mohamed said on Thursday (Aug 25) that disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak is likely to win a royal pardon and be freed from a jail sentence for graft that he began this week.

Dr Mahathir, whose election victory in 2018 triggered Najib's downfall, said in a report by Reuters that delays in various trials related to the multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) would result in justice being denied.

"For Najib, it is highly likely that he will be pardoned after being imprisoned," the 97-year-old Mahathir said in a statement. The two-time former prime minister did not elaborate.

The Federal Court on Tuesday rejected Najib's final appeal against a 2020 conviction by a lower court, and upheld the 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million (US$46.8 million) fine for illegally receiving US$10 million from a unit of 1MDB.
 

Moving forward, Najib and his legal team have a couple of options to explore, such as filing a review application on his conviction.

Malaysian lawyers told CNA that Najib and his legal counsel could also file an application to be pardoned by the Malaysian king.

“The judicial process ended with the Federal Court. This is an executive process where the executive may choose to remit, suspend or commute the sentence,” said constitutional law and human rights lawyer New Sin Yew.

This power can only be exercised by the king, Mr New added, after having consulted or been recommended by the Pardons Board. This pardon will only be in relation to an offence for which Najib had been convicted, and will not affect other court cases the former prime minister is involved in. 

PETITION HITS MORE THAN 103,000 SIGNATURES

The country's electoral watchdog on Wednesday launched an online petition addressed to the national palace, calling for the king to deny Najib of any royal pardon. 

The petition on the website Change.org amassed more than 103,000 signatures as of 9.30pm on Friday.

"We, your loyal subjects, humbly appeal to Your Majesty, not to exercise your discretion to pardon former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his crime against the Malaysian public.

"He has been convicted of stealing public funds in the SRC International case and had been given due process of a fair trial," said the petition.

In an earlier statement, Bersih said it applauded the Federal Court's decision.

"The judiciary is an important institution to our democracy, it ... has demonstrated that it will not yield before political and public pressures, and is being fair and just to all parties in the administration of justice."

Najib loyalists have also issued a similar petition calling for a royal pardon.

His supporters gathered outside the national palace in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to submit a memorandum to palace officials, Malaysian media reported. 

They have two demands - a royal pardon for Najib, and for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief to meet the king to present the evidence that there was a conflict of interest with regard to Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, according to the Star. 

Judge Mohd Nazlan was the High Court judge who found Najib guilty in July 2020. Najib’s legal team had argued that there was an alleged conflict of interest as the judge did not disclose his previous role with Maybank while the bank was 1MDB strategic advisor. 

Najib is believed to be close to some of Malaysia's royals. However, there has been no indication so far on how the palace would respond to any pardon application by Najib, who held power for nine years until 2018.

Nor has there been any sign yet of how prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob would regard a pardon for his old party leader, as he seeks to rehabilitate the image of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

NAJIB RETURNS TO COURT

Having been sent to jail on Tuesday after losing the appeal in one of the smaller cases related to the siphoning off of money from the state fund he co-founded in 2009, Najib was back in court on Thursday for a hearing in the largest case.

He was brought from the Kajang prison complex to the Kuala Lumpur High Court in a black police car under heavy security and was taken to the courtroom through a private entrance.

At the end of the day's hearing, Najib - in a dark suit and tie - waved to reporters from the police car on his way back to Kajang. He did not comment, but an aide to the former premier said he was "doing OK".

In a social media post, Najib's daughter Nooryana Najwa said he had been provided with basic necessities in prison, and "was getting used to his new routine".

On Friday, he returned to court in a black SUV escorted by several police and Prisons Department vehicles, said the Bernama news agency. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also present at the court complex.

The charges laid against Najib in this case include 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power for allegedly receiving illegal transfers of at least RM2.3 billion between 2011 and 2014.

Najib also faces three other cases, and they all carry jail terms and heavy financial penalties.

Malaysian and US investigators say US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, in a scandal that has implicated financial institutions and high-ranking officials worldwide. More than US$1 billion was traced to Najib's bank accounts.

He also faces bankruptcy, which cannot be pardoned and which would prevent him from running for elections. Najib has denied any wrongdoing, and has painted himself as the victim of a political vendetta by his former mentor. 

Mahathir was already Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister when he first retired in 2003 after 22 years at the helm. He campaigned for Najib and UMNO during the 2013 election but turned against his protege as the scale of corruption at 1MDB began to emerge.

Leading an opposition alliance of unlikely bedfellows, the nonagenarian Mahathir defeated the UMNO-led coalition, removing it from power for the first time since the formation of Malaysia six decades earlier.

Reinstalled as prime minister, Mahathir reopened probes into 1MDB that led to Najib facing a total of 42 charges. Mahathir subsequently resigned amid political turmoil as his alliance fell apart.