G25 wants AG’s written opinion on Najib house arrest made public

The G25 group of retired civil servants has called for the written opinion of the Attorney-General, Dusuki Mokhtar, on the house arrest of former Prime Minister Najib Razak to be made public following his conditional pardon. The group asserts that Article 42(9) of the Federal Constitution mandates that the Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB) consider the AG's written opinion, while Article 40(1A) states the Yang di-Pertuan Agong must act on the FTPB's advice.

The group questions the legal advice given to the FTPB, as Justice Alice Loke's recent High Court ruling held that a house arrest order is unenforceable due to the lack of a legal provision for such a mechanism in Malaysia. The G25 requests transparency on whether the decision to grant house arrest aligns with AG's advice and ministerial representation.

They also urge the FTPB to reconsider the decision at its next meeting and rescind it, emphasizing that if house arrest becomes part of Malaysia's criminal justice system, it should be governed by clear laws and criteria rather than being created for a specific individual. The group stresses that the government's response to calls for transparency would demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law, institutional reform, and restoring public confidence.

Failure to respond may lead the public to assume there are no justifiable reasons for the decision. The G25 claims that the decision has undermined public confidence in the criminal justice system and raised questions about equal treatment under the law, questioning if the same treatment would be available to an ordinary prisoner convicted of similar offenses.