PH MP’s question about former King’s position on Najib’s pardon rejected
Published on: Wednesday, February 28, 2024
By: FMT
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng asked if lawyer Shafee Abdullah had broken the law by divulging information attributed to the former King during the Pardons Board’s deliberations.
PETALING JAYA: Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has revealed that a question he posed on whether lawyer Shafee Abdullah had broken the law by divulging information attributed to the former King over Najib Razak’s pardon application has been rejected.
In a letter sighted by FMT, Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin said the question submitted by Lim for answer by the prime minister in Parliament was rejected on the grounds that the information sought was a secret, and therefore breached Standing Order 23(1)(f).
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The letter, dated Feb 23, also cited Standing Order 23(1)(h) which prohibits questions that call for “an expression of opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or (an) answer to a hypothetical proposition”.
Nizam had responded to Lim on behalf of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul.
Last week, Shafee claimed that documents relating to the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s decision to reduce the former prime minister’s prison sentence and fine were not confidential.
He said he only showed court reporters a letter dated Feb 7, carrying the seal of the previous Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, as he did not have his client’s permission to disclose the contents of the documents.
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On Feb 2, the Pardons Board halved Najib’s sentence from a 12-year prison term to six years for misappropriating SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.
The board also reduced his initial fine of RM210 million to RM50 million.
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It recommended that Najib serve the remainder of his sentence, according to excerpts of the letter that Shafee read out at an earlier press conference.
In response, Lim urged the Pardons Board to explain whether Shafee had broken the law by divulging to the public the inner workings behind the decision.
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