Kecacatan pada ‘order of discharge’ tak patut berlaku, kata peguam negara

Peguam Negara Dusuki Mokhtar has raised concerns over the accuracy of documents used to enforce the former Prime Minister Najib Razak's house arrest order. The issue arose from the 'order of discharge' document from the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, which has caused problems for legal observers. Mokhtar stated that such an error should not occur if all parties were meticulous and thorough in their investigations.

He emphasized that this mistake is glaring and should not happen within the country's legal system. The flaw pertains to the use of legal terminology and the document's purpose. The document was issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court after a RM50 million fine was imposed on Najib Razm as a condition for serving the remaining part of his prison sentence in his house, facilitated by the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund.

However, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) later delayed the execution of Najib's house arrest temporarily to allow his accusers to obtain further clarification regarding the interpretation of the conditional pardon order approved by the King, Sultan Ibrahim. The Istana Negara responded to the AGC, stating that any objection to the conditional pardon order for Najib would amount to undermining an Agong's order.

The statement reaffirmed that all the conditions of the conditional pardon order were met, and its execution should not result in prolonged confusion or uncertainty. It also stressed that the pardon order is clear, factual, and lacks ambiguity, with no connection to any other issue involving Najib. When asked about the session with Sultan Ibrahim to clarify the legal concerns, Dusuki declined to comment further.

However, sources suggested that the session might take place on Tuesday. On September 18, 2022, Najib Razak, 73 and a former Umno president, received conditional pardon from the King, allowing him to serve the remaining part of his house arrest until August 23, 2028. Najib was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a RM210 million fine after being found guilty by the High Court Kuala Lumpur on July 28, 2020, of seven charges related to embezzlement of RM42 million from SRC International.

On August 23, 2022, the Federal Court rejected Najib's final appeal and upheld his sentence and fine. On the same day, he began serving his prison sentence at the Kajang Prison. He then filed a petition for pardon with the Agong on September 2, 2022. The matter was considered by the Federal Advisory Committee on January 29, 2024, and the decision was announced on February 2, 2024, reducing Najib's prison sentence from 12 years to six years and the fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.