KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian Bar president Zainur Zakaria has proposed that the legal body discuss the Pardons Board having acted “ultra vires” under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution when it reduced Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s sentence.
In a letter to the council’s secretary dated March 6, he said the Bar should challenge the legality of the Board’s decision by instituting a judicial review.
Zainur, who was president of Malaysian Bar from 1993 to 1995, said the former prime minister has only served one-and-a-half years of his jail sentence and has not yet paid the RM210 million fine.
He also highlighted Najib’s offences relating to the former 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd, and the ongoing 1MDB trial, have tarnished the country’s image internationally.
“The Tanore trial involving his alleged receipt of US$600 million of 1MDB monies has been on-going for the past three years, and is still pending at the high court.
“Serious accusations of his personal and direct involvement in the affairs of 1MDB, and his unusual relationship with Jho Low, have been testified to by numerous prosecution witnesses in the Tanore trial.
“Najib Razak has never shown any remorse or contrition as to his involvement in the 1MDB affairs; and, on the contrary, he continues to claim or allege that it is our courts that have not treated him fairly or justly.”
The AGM will take place on March 16. – March 12, 2024