Najib remains MP as he has filed for royal pardon, says Malaysia speaker of parliament

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak whose graft conviction was affirmed by the country’s apex court two weeks ago will remain as member of parliament as he has filed a petition seeking for a royal pardon.

Parliament speaker Azhar Azizan Harun said that Najib had filed the petition for a royal pardon last Friday, within 14 days of the Federal Court’s decision.

Azhar said that the enforcement of his disqualification as MP would only take place if his petition was denied.

“This means that the status of Najib Razak as the Pekan MP remains unchanged and will only be finalized after the petition has been concluded,” he said in a statement on Monday (Sep 5).

Under Malaysian law, any MP will be disqualified from their post if he or she is convicted and sentenced to more than one year of prison or receives a fine of not less than RM2,000 (US$445) unless they receive a royal pardon.

On Aug 23, the Federal Court dismissed Najib’s appeal to overturn a 12-year-jail term and RM210 million fine over seven charges in the case involving funds from the former unit of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The charges against Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, involved the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.

He was found guilty on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power by the High Court in July 2020, and was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million.

The conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021. Najib later filed a petition of appeal to the Federal Court on Apr 25 this year.

Agencies