House arrest for Najib mockery of Malaysia legal system, says S’wak activist

KUCHING (Jan 11): House arrest for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is unconstitutional and serves no equality before the law, asserted social activist Voon Shiak Ni.

“It is a mockery of our Malaysia legal system to commute the imprisonment of former prime minister Najib Razak to ‘house arrest’, whereby house arrest is against the Constitution and there is no such precedent,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She observed that there had been heated discussions on the issue which had triggered nationwide comments by netizens, academicians and civil societies.

Citing an example, she said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission former chief commissioner Latheefa Koya had commented on social media that house arrest is an unlawful order given the country’s existing legislations.

Furthermore, Voon added, house arrest was not provided under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution or the Prison Act.

“It is against the rule of law. If Najib is released on house arrest, corruption will be legitimised and Malaysia will sink to the level of a banana republic,” she stressed.

She believed that Malaysians could still recall those days when tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur as well as other cities around the globe, waving the ‘Bersih’ flag to show support against corrupt practices during the reign of Najib.

She regretted that after Najib was convicted of many corruption charges, his jail sentence was reduced by half and the fine imposed was also cut down from RM210 million to RM50 million.

According to her, Malaysians have yet to digest the justification for these reductions in punishment and the public confidence will continue to be gravely undermined if Najib is allowed to go home to serve his jail sentence.

“On the legality aspect, substituting imprisonment with ‘house arrest’ appears to introduce a form of penalty not legislated by the Parliament, which may exceed the limits of the (Pardons) Board’s authority and set a dangerous precedent,” she explained.

Voon said the public could not help but wonder if the recommendation for ‘house arrest’ aligned with the Pardons Board’s constitutional and statutory authority.

She also questioned whether the Board should propose alternatives that are not grounded in Malaysian law, potentially undermining the rule of law and the integrity of the judicial process.

“It is the hope of all Malaysians that our legal system be fair and transparent and all crime offenders be treated fairly and equally before the law regardless of one’s status in society.

“If one who has been convicted of a multi-million dollar corruption crime can serve his jail sentence at home, then our system will be seen as being oppressive, biased and discriminating against other prisoners,” she said.