By MIKE PAUL
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — The four-day delay in Najib house arrest proceedings has prompted several Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to call for the Attorney General to be placed on temporary leave while an independent investigation is carried out.
The demand was made at a press conference at Parliament today, where Tenggara MP Manndzri Nasib read out a joint statement on behalf of the group. The lawmakers said the fresh High Court order issued yesterday had settled the matter legally, but it did not explain why Datuk Seri Najib Razak remained in Kajang Prison after paying the RM50 million fine on Nov 6.
Manndzri said that “a settlement does not eliminate accountability”, adding that the Attorney General must explain why the deferral happened and who was responsible for it.
Questions over the four-day gap
The MPs argued that payment of the fine, the key condition of the conditional pardon, should have led to Najib’s immediate transfer home. Manndzri said the extra days in prison, without a court order to back them, could amount to unlawful detention.
The group also questioned the Attorney General’s role as a member of the Pardons Board, which met on Sept 18. They asked whether the practical and legal steps for carrying out the house arrest had been discussed at that meeting, and said any problems identified then should have been resolved before the fine was paid.
The AGC’s position
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) announced on Nov 6 that the house arrest should be temporarily deferred pending legal clarification. It said the High Court’s Order of Discharge, which directed Najib’s immediate release while also stating that the remainder of his sentence would be served at home until Aug 23, 2028, could be read in two different ways.
According to the AGC, house arrest is an alternative place to serve the remaining prison term rather than an end to the sentence. It also pointed to the High Court’s Oct 14 dismissal of Najib’s application to stay his separate 15-year sentence in the 1MDB case. The AGC later denied that it was defying the King’s decree, saying its aim was only to resolve legal uncertainty.
Najib’s legal team rejected the deferment at the time, saying the release process was already underway when the AGC statement was issued and that the move disregarded His Majesty’s order.
Fresh order ends the wait
Najib, 73, was moved from Kajang Prison to his residence in Jalan Langgak Duta last night after the High Court issued a fresh order following the AGC’s application to review the Nov 6 document. He will serve the rest of his six-year SRC International sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028.
The issue has already had political consequences. DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke stepped down as transport minister following the court decision, as reported earlier by TNS News. The house arrest stems from the further conditional pardon granted by Sultan Ibrahim in September, a decision that TNS News has examined for its governance implications.
Legal experts remain divided over the AGC’s handling of the matter. Some have questioned the timing of its intervention, while others said the wording of the discharge order did raise genuine legal questions that needed the court’s clarification.
The AGC’s official statements on the matter are published on the Attorney-General’s Chambers website.
– TNS News