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“It is up to him (Najib) when he wants to make the application. This is not an appeal but merely an administrative procedure,” said Abu Talib, who served as the AG from 1980 to 1993.
He was asked what avenue was open to Najib now that the Federal Court had affirmed his conviction and sentence.
Najib had earlier been found guilty of committing seven counts of corruption – abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering – in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur between 2010 and 2015.
Abu Talib said the King would forward any application for clemency to the Pardons Board of the Federal Territory, as stated under Article 42 (11) of the Federal Constitution.
The King will then preside over the meeting of the board.
Members of the board shall constitute the AG, the federal territories minister and not more than three others appointed by the King.
Abu Talib said the Prime Minister’s Department would also prepare a report for the board.
He said Article 42 (9) stated that before tendering their advice, the board shall consider any written opinion which the AG might have delivered.
Abu Talib was a prosecutor when former Selangor menteri besar, the late Harun Idris, was convicted for corruption in the late 1970s.
He was the AG when former youth and sports minister, the late Mokhtar Hashim, was sentenced to death for the murder of the then speaker of the Negeri Sembilan legislative assembly, Taha Talib, in 1982.
“Both were given a pardon only after serving jail terms for some time,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al Mahdzar said though the power of pardon was vested in the King, the constitutional monarch must act on advice.
He said the decision of any pardons board was currently beyond review by the court.
“I think Najib would have to serve a considerable (amount of) time before he can get clemency as he did not put forward mitigating factors before the apex court,” he said.
Syed Iskandar said opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was given a pardon in May 2018 after being in jail for three years for sexual misconduct against his former aide.
Yesterday, a five-member bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat affirmed Najib’s conviction and sentence by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8 last year, which in turn had upheld a High Court decision.
On July 28, 2020, trial judge Nazlan Ghazali sentenced the Pekan MP to 12 years’ jail and a fine of RM210 million over seven corruption charges.
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