Court Affirmed Addendum Hearsay Najib Unqualified For House Arrest

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PARLIAMENT | Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has stressed to the Dewan Rakyat that a purported royal addendum ordering house arrest for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is only hearsay.
In his response to queries from several MPs on the matter, Saifuddin referred them to the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision in July which dismissed Najib's legal action to affirm the addendum's existence.
"Kota Bharu (MP Takiyuddin Hassan), I am sure you are aware of the court's decision, where after the matter was raised by (Najib's) lawyer the court ruled that this addendum is hearsay.
"This has been decided by the court. This matter shouldn't arise anymore.
"Furthermore, the Home Ministry is also not a part of the Pardons Board. So, whether the addendum order exists or not, the court has decided that (the affidavits) were merely one person saying they heard from another person who got it from another person, which means hearsay. So, let the matter rest there. I do not want to comment any further," he said today.
Only for remand cases
Saifuddin was delivering his winding-up speech on the Supply Bill when Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan-Bukit Gelugor) and Takiyuddin demanded his clarification over the government's plan to enact a house arrest law.
This includes whether the proposal - which Putrajaya said is aimed at addressing congestion at prison facilities nationwide - would apply to Najib who is serving jail time for corruption.
To this, Saifuddin told the Dewan Rakyat that at this juncture, the government's intention is only to address prison congestion caused by remand cases.
According to the minister, some 28,000 individuals are in prisons nationwide pending the conclusion of their criminal trials.
Thus, he said, convicted individuals like Najib would not qualify.
Ex-PM Najib Abdul Razak"I have explained earlier that the ministry's intention behind our plan to have this house arrest law is to address the issue of remand.
"If someone is already convicted, then he or she would not be eligible," Saifuddin added.
Less serious crimes
Earlier, the minister said the plan is to give the court the discretionary power to order remand detainees to be held under house arrest.
Only those facing trial for certain cases considered less serious should be eligible, he added.
However, what the minister told Parliament today contradicted his statement to the media some three weeks ago.
According to Bernama, Saifuddin told reporters in Klang on Oct 20 that the bill would consider first-time offenders who did not commit major crimes, pregnant women, senior citizens, and people with disabilities.
"The (estimated) number that will qualify for consideration is 20,000 offenders, who are first-time offenders.
"It also applies to offenders of minor crimes. For instance, a single mother who is poverty-stricken and resorts to stealing milk for her child and is sentenced to jail," he reportedly said.
3R cases
On a separate issue, Saifuddin revealed that over 180 cases concerning 3R (royalty, religion, and race) issues have been recorded since March 2023.
"Since Bukit Aman established its task force in March 2023, they have documented 182 cases.
"Of these, 138 have been resolved, while the remaining 44 are still under investigation."
Saifuddin noted that the majority of cases involve insults directed at the monarchy, and several individuals have already faced charges.
He further mentioned that those charged include individuals from all major races. - Mkini

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