29 January 2025
Today marks the 1st anniversary of Najib Razak’s grand discount day. One year ago, Najib had his sentences in the SRC international case commuted from 12 years to six years (50% discount) and from RM 210,000,000 to RM 50,000,000 (76% discount). Today, we the under-signed Malaysian civil society groups and Malaysian citizens, categorically declare that,
1. We hate corruption.
2. Najib does not deserve any mercy – pardon or home detention – because
a. he had been convicted of corruption (7 charges) and continues to be charged for abuse of power (4 charges), criminal breach of trust (6 charges) and money laundering (24 charges) involving a total of RM8,988,002,678.00 comprise of:-
- RM 6,636,065,000.00 in International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC)
- RM 2,282,937,678.41 in 1MDB corruption case
- RM 42,000,000.00 in SRC International case
- RM 27,000,000.00 in AmPrivate Banking money laundering case
b. he has never admitted guilt in any of these cases. Instead, he has repeatedly claimed he is a victim of political persecution; and
c. he demands pardon and leniency in the punishment lawfully meted out to him in the SRC International case while the three other cases are pending.
3. before all of Najib’s pending cases are concluded and, upon conviction, he admits guilt and seek forgiveness, any decision to pardon him or substitute his prison time with home detention, amounts to condoning and normalizing corruption. It amounts to promoting or tolerating a “dua-darjat” (two-class) society in which those who steal more get lower punishment. Such decisions are an affront to the rule of law. Such decisions signal to investors, and the international community, that Malaysia remains a haven for 1MDB-style kleptocracy.
4. Parliament and legislatures are the only law-making bodies in Malaysia. Any law on home detention must be transparently made in Parliament, and not by any other avenue or document. The law on home detention must explicitly exclude, amongst others,
a. persons convicted of corruption, power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering;
b. persons who do not admit guilt instead claim to be victim of political persecution or judicial error; and/or
c. persons who have related cases pending.
5. Attorney-General Dato’ Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar must order the prosecution to timely re-file new charges against Najib Razak in the RM 6.6 billion case of International Petroleum Investment Company. Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim must assist the Prosecution in the access to the necessary documents. Najib was given a Discharge Not Amounting to Acquittal (DNAA) by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 27 November 2024 because the prosecution had failed to produce documents under S51A of the Criminal Procedure Code. According to the prosecution, the documents are Official Secret under the Finance Ministry. If Najib escapes any accountability due to the failure on the part of the prosecution, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who constitutionally controls the appointment and tenure of the AG and can declassify any Official Secret documents under Finance Ministry must bear full political responsibility.
Initiated by:-
Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA)
Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (BERSIH)
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS Malaysia)
Himpunan Advokasi Rakyat Malaysia (HARAM)
Fahmi Reza
As of 29 January 2025, at 2pm, the statement titled “Rakyat benci rasuah. Najib tidak layak terima pengampunan atau tahanan rumah” and “Malaysians hate corruption. Najib does not deserve pardon or home detention.” has received the endorsement of 48 Organisations and 826 individuals .
