KUALA LUMPUR — Bersatu wants the government to explain the legal framework, procedures and criteria for the implementation of house arrest following the conditional pardon granted to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the explanation was necessary to address public concerns over equality before the law and ensure that house arrest would not be perceived as special treatment for the privileged and influential.
“To ensure transparency in the implementation of the Pardons Board’s decision, Bersatu calls for all conditions imposed on Datuk Seri Mohd Najib, including serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, to be stated in detail and made public,” he said.
“The government should explain the legal framework, procedures and criteria that will be used for the implementation of house arrest, including whether the same privilege can be fairly considered for other prisoners who meet the prescribed criteria,” he said in a statement today.
Azmin said such an explanation was important to prevent the perception that there was one form of treatment for influential individuals, and another for ordinary citizens.
Azmin said making the conditions public was necessary to prevent public anxiety and anger that could undermine the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in the country’s legal system.
Bersatu added that it respected the Federal Constitution provisions giving the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the power to grant pardons, reprieves or remissions of sentences.
Yesterday, Najib received a conditional pardon from the Federal Territories Pardons Board which is chaired by the king, for him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence until August 2028 under house arrest, provided he pay a RM50 million fine.
He has to date, served four years at Kajang Prison for corruption involving RM42 million of SRC International funds. In January 2024, the same pardons board halved his original prison sentence of 12 years and lowered the court’s RM210 million fine to RM50 million. – September 19, 2026