KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Bar is set to challenge the decision of the Federal Territories Pardons Board that commutes former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s jail sentence and fine.
The council’s newly-elected president, Muhammad Ezri Abdul Wahab, confirmed this to the media following a motion passed during its 78th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today.
He added that the council is looking to file the judicial review in the next two weeks, as they needed to hash out the details and demands with their counsels.
Ezri said the motion received overwhelming support from its members today, with only one member voting against it.
The motion was initiated by the council’s former president, Zainur Zakaria, on March 6, when he called for the council to urgently initiate legal action against the Pardons Board’s decision.
However, Ezri said, the judicial review will be filed specifically against the Pardons Board, and it is not to challenge the King’s decision on Najib’s commuted sentence.
“The motion specifically named the Pardons Board and no other parties.
“It is our duty, without fear or favour, and we’re protecting the rule of law. This is why the floor (during the AGM) has decided to (vote in favour of) filing the judicial review.
“We are only filing the review on Pardons’ report, specifically on the manner and how it’s been conducted. (We are not filing a review) of the King’s decision.
“As far as we have come to know, all who have heard the decision made by the Board are not happy. So, we are there to help ascertain what is the right thing that should happen,” he said.
Ezri was elected as the council’s president for the coming 2024-2025 term, replacing Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, who had held the position for the last two terms.
He was appointed at the council’s first meeting today, where the members also elected Anand Raj as vice-president, as well as Murshidah Mustafa as the secretary-general.
Ezri said that out of the nine motions discussed during the AGM today, six were passed, two were dismissed, and one was withdrawn.
Out of the six, he said, two motions received unanimous votes from its members, one of which was condemning the government’s proposed amendments to the citizenship law, which it deems regressive.
Following the results, he said, the council called upon the government to proceed with the amendment to enable Malaysian mothers to confer automatic citizenship to their overseas-born children.
They also demand that the government adopt and implement the proposals contained in Suhakam’s report, which include prioritising citizenship for stateless individuals who can establish that they were born in Malaysia.
Ezri added that the council also demanded the government establish an independent Ombudsperson Office to investigate stateless children and to fast-track their citizenship applications, as well as to increase transparency surrounding the path to citizenship.
An ombudsperson is someone appointed to investigate complaints against an institution and seek resolutions to those complaints.
The council’s newly-appointed vice president, Anand, also chimed in when he said the council had also set up a special committee to specifically address and look into statelessness cases in courts.
“We (the council) will consider instituting or participating in all necessary court proceedings to eliminate Malaysia’s shameful legacy of stateless people,” he said. – March 16, 2024