In the Case of Najib, the Addendum Decree’s existence is contested in The Room.
KUALA LUMPUR: The case of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who has requested authorization to begin a judicial review in order to contest the validity of an additional order allegedly issued by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong directing the former prime minister to serve the final six years of his prison sentence under house arrest, is not permitted to be covered by the media.
Najib’s attorney, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told High Court Judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh that the case should be heard in this room because of delicate matters.
“All documents have been filed. Conducting it in-the room means it can be physically done in court but declared in The Room.
“I was also informed and conveyed to my colleagues (Federal Counsel – SFC) Shamsul Bolhassan and Ahmad Hanir Hambaly) who also agreed with the idea, given certain materials disclosed in affidavits previously which are actually sensitive,” said the lawyer.
Only the attorneys representing Najib and the SFC representing the respondent had been in attendance while Judge Amarjeet then ordered the proceedings to be physically conducted and announced in The Room.
“All other parties are not allowed to attend these proceedings including the media,” the judge said.
Najib, the applicant, listed the following as the first through seventh respondents: the Minister of Home Affairs; the Director-General of Prisons; the Attorney General; the Pardon Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya; the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reforms); the Chief Director of the Legal Affairs Division in the Prime Minister’s Department; and the Minister of Education.
The former Pekan member of parliament requested a mandamus order in the notice of application, asking that all or any one of the respondents respond and attest to the presence of the new decree dated January 29, 2024.
In addition, the applicant requested a mandamus order directing all or some of the respondents to promptly enforce the additional decree by moving from Kajang Prison to his home in Kuala Lumpur, where he would serve the balance of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Najib has been serving his sentence in Kajang Prison since August 23, 2022, after being found guilty of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He subsequently filed a petition for Royal Pardon on September 2, 2022.
The Pardon Board reduced Najib’s prison sentence from 12 years to six years, while the fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.
-Agency
