PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry did not receive any orders from the Prime Minister’s Department’s Legal Affairs Division on allowing Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The Home Minister said his ministry only received a letter from the division that detailed meeting minutes of the Pardons Board which met on Jan 29 and Feb 2 last year.
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According to Saifuddin, the letter only mentioned the board’s decision to halve Najib’s prison sentence from 12 years to six years and reduce his fine from RM210mil to RM50mil, in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
“This (was in) the letter received by the Prisons Department and there was no mention of house arrest at all.
“It is important to address any perceptions that the Home Ministry, specifically the Prisons Department, did not carry out or hid the decision by the Pardons Board,” he told a special press conference at the Home Ministry in Putrajaya on Monday (Jan 6).
Stressing that the addendum was not mentioned to the Prisons Department, Saifuddin said it was untrue that his ministry had refused to carry out the house arrest order for Najib.
“We can only implement orders when (they are given) in black and white, more so if this order is signed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who chairs the Pardons Board,” added Saifuddin.
He also stressed that meeting minutes of the Pardons Board cannot be revealed as it is considered an official secret.
“The Attorney General's Chambers argued in court that the minutes of the Pardons Board meeting did not mention any addendum, (and that) is in line with what we received.
“With this explanation, I hope I have explained that the Home Ministry fully implemented the King’s decree, (as conveyed) through the Pardons Board’s official orders," Saifuddin added.
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Earlier in the day, Najib succeeded in obtaining leave from the Court of Appeal in a split 2-1 decision in his appeal relating to his claims of a royal addendum order that would allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
The appellate court overturned the High Court's dismissal of Najib's application for leave to initiate judicial review over prison time imposed on him in the SRC International case.
Various parties, including Najib's son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin, have since asked if the royal addendum order had been "hidden" instead of being implemented.
Najib, 71, began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by the Pardons Board.
