Minister: 'Pardon authority' to determine restrictions on Najib during house arrest

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Minister: 'Pardon authority' to determine restrictions on Najib during house arrest

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has indicated that a "pihak berkuasa pengampunan" (pardon authority) will determine the terms and restrictions imposed on Najib Abdul Razak when he undergoes house arrest.

This includes matters involving visitation and monitoring.

At present, there is a lack of clarity over the rules Najib will have to follow when he returns home, with one lawyer telling Malaysiakini bluntly that if the former premier is allowed to stay with his wife Rosmah Mansor...

"pihak berkuasa pengampunan" (pardon authority) will determine the terms and restrictions imposed on Najib Abdul Razak when he undergoes house arrest.

This includes matters involving visitation and monitoring.

At present, there is a lack of clarity over the rules Najib will have to follow when he returns home, with one lawyer telling Malaysiakini bluntly that if the former premier is allowed to stay with his wife Rosmah Mansor, there would be nothing stopping him from using her phone.

Without naming Najib, Saifuddin said in a written parliamentary reply dated yesterday that Najib's house arrest under a conditional pardon would not be the same as the house arrest system that the government is planning to establish through legislation, as no such statutory house arrest framework exists.

He said the implementation of such conditional pardons, which form part of a constitutional prerogative, is “subject to the decision and conditions set by the relevant pardons authority”.

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“Therefore, a placement at a residence made following a conditional pardon decision cannot be directly equated to a house arrest order issued by a court under a specific Act.

“For a conditional pardon, any conditions related to control, movement monitoring, visits, or other matters are subject to the decisions and conditions established, as well as the prevailing implementation procedures.

“For example, in implementing a conditional pardon decision that requires a prisoner to remain at a residence, aspects such as visitation, control, and movement monitoring need to be detailed through the relevant standard operating procedures,” he said.

The minister was responding to questions from Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng, who wanted to know how many house arrest orders had been issued.

He also asked whether individuals placed under house arrest were required to be monitored by closed-circuit television, wear electronic ankle tags or other monitoring devices, and what types of visitors would be allowed.

Saifuddin (above) did not specify what he meant by “pardons authority” or whether this referred to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the Federal Territories Pardons Board.

Pakatan Harapan leaders have indicated that the decision to grant Najib house arrest was made by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, citing his constitutional prerogative.

Terms and conditions

The house arrest relates to Najib’s SRC International case and will last until Aug 23, 2028. However, he must first pay the RM50 million fine imposed as part of his conviction before he can return home. Umno is still raising funds for its former president to pay the fine.

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In announcing the pardon decision on Sept 18, the Legal Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Department said Najib must comply with all conditions attached to the conditional pardon and would be sent back to prison if he failed to do so.

Those terms have not been specified as of writing.

Meanwhile, after the pardon was announced, Saifuddin said the Home Ministry and Prison Department were waiting on the Pardons Board to inform them of the particulars of the conditional pardon.

Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar was subsequently reported as saying that the Prison Department would release SOPs governing the house arrest.

It remains unclear whether the Prison Department had been empowered to formulate its own SOPs or whether the Pardons Board had already specified the terms.

Najib notified

Separately, Legal Affairs Division director-general Zamri Misman said today that Najib “has been notified” of the standard operating procedures governing house arrest.

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"Those details have been communicated to Najib," he told reporters in Parliament when asked for elaboration on the conditions and procedures.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, meanwhile, said her ministry only functions as the Pardons Board secretariat, and she has no further details on the matter.

The Prison Board must make sure NAJIB new place of stay, meet the Prison SOP to exacting standards. Also, only NAJIB must be in the new place ALONE without any access to any communication devices. CCTV cameras must be installed within his place of stay, so that prison guards knows his exact location at all times. There shouldn’t be any doubt that the new place of stay, that the inmate NAJIB knows he is in a prison facility!

Could you PLEASE, editors, once and for all, get that flattering portrait of the felon off our screens!!! The cat who got the cheese is NOT what we need to view with these stories. Do you fail to understand the PR exercise involved in continuing to inflict that image upon us?! Honestly? Get real plz.

Bosku is the bos of Zahid. Zahid ambition is to become future PM. Will bosku supporters allow that to happen?