Umno raises doubt over judiciary in renewed push to seek pardon for ex-Malaysian PM Najib
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Umno’s 191 division heads are being persuaded to sign a petition to Malaysia’s King to pardon former PM Najib Razak.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KUALA LUMPUR - Umno is redoubling efforts to push for the release of its former party chief Najib Razak from jail, after he exhausted his legal appeals against conviction in a case linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Straits Times has learnt that Umno’s 191 division heads are being persuaded to sign a petition to Malaysia’s King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, imploring him to pardon former premier Najib.
The country’s apex court had, in a four-to-one majority decision on March 31, rejected Najib’s application to review his graft conviction
Despite being tainted with corruption and behind bars since August 2022, Najib remains a popular and influential figure among some voters, especially from the Malay majority. Umno’s support from the majority community was substantially eroded in the November general election but it remains a partner in the government helmed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Since the court decision in March, Umno figures have been increasingly casting aspersions against the judiciary, from Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, the judge who convicted Najib at the High Court three years ago, to Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.
They have repeatedly cited the dissenting view in the March 31 court decision, which said that Tun Maimun had erred in not allowing Najib’s defence team more time to prepare for his appeal last August after he decided to change lawyers weeks before the hearing began. Four other judges had ruled that “the applicant (Najib) was the author of his own misfortunes”.
In addition, a purported letter from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki informing Tun Maimun that Justice Nazlan had a conflict of interest in presiding over Najib’s High Court trial has also since proliferated over social media, including on the Instagram account of Najib’s daughter Nooryana Najwa.
A member of Najib’s legal team confirmed to ST as “authentic and accurate” a letter it received from de facto law minister and Umno information chief Azalina Othman informing the team that the anti-graft agency had recommended disciplinary action against Datuk Nazlan for breach of judicial ethics.
“I can confirm that the answers to the questions (you have set out) are in the affirmative,” Datuk Seri Azalina wrote on March 20 in response to law firm Shafee & Co’s letter five days earlier regarding the issue of whether Mr Nazlan was conflicted by virtue of being general counsel at Maybank, which at the time also counted state fund 1MDB as its client.
The MACC’s findings, however, hold little legal weight as it is up to the judiciary to discipline its own members.
In February, a seven-man Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Maimun ruled that the MACC probe against Mr Nazlan breached protocol, as the chief justice was not consulted and that the timing of the probe – just before Najib’s final appeal in 2022 – was “curious”. These elements, she said, indicated the investigation was not made in good faith.
Nonetheless, the MACC’s conclusions will fuel Umno’s push for a pardon.
Supreme Council member Lokman Adam told ST that on Wednesday, party president Zahid Hamidi announced a signature drive in Kedah for all division chiefs to support a pardon for Najib in a royal petition.
“The petition has already been distributed... to request the consent of His Majesty, discretion and favour so Najib will be given a pardon by the Royal Pardons Board on April 28,” he said, adding that the party would decide on Friday whether to send a delegation to the palace to submit the petition.
Datuk Lokman said “all division chiefs in Kedah have signed, now it is being advanced nationwide”.
Najib, however, still faces dozens of other charges related to the financial scandal surrounding 1MDB, including a criminal breach of trust charge involving RM6.6 billion.
He was prime minister from 2009 until 2018, when he became the first Umno president to lose a general election in Malaysia’s six-decade history after corruption allegations surrounding 1MDB sparked public anger.
Nevertheless he has managed to revitalise his political persona and popularity since. He actively campaigned for Umno as it chalked up repeated by-election wins from 2019, including winning two-thirds of Melaka and Johor state legislatives in the months running up to his jailing last August.
