Azalina: There shouldn’t be a gag order on royal addendum

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Case is already in public domain.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said disagrees with the Attorney General’s Chambers’ (AGC) recent application to obtain a gag order on a purported royal addendum that allows Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

“Honestly, in my personal view, there should not be a gag order,” she told reporters when attending the International Political Financing Conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (Jan 14), say reports.

“Firstly, the case is already in the public domain.

Jabatan Penerangan Malaysia

“Secondly, parliament will convene next month. So, all of this will resurface.”

The government is applying for a gag order to prevent public discussion about an addendum that the former prime minister claims would allow him to serve the remainder of his SRC International Sdn Bhd prison sentence under house arrest.

Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan – representing the Federal Territories Pardons Board, the government and five others – made the application orally during case management on Monday (Jan 13).

He cited “sensitive issues” as the reason for the application.

The government also objected to a watching brief conducted by lawyers appearing for MPs from Perikatan Nasional.

On Jan 6, Najib obtained leave from the Court of Appeal in his appeal relating to his claims of a royal addendum order permitting house arrest.

In a 2-1 majority decision, the appellate court overturned the High Court’s dismissal of Najib’s application for leave to initiate judicial review.

The case was remitted to be heard before a different judge at the High Court.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said believed there shouldn’t be a gag order on Najib Abdul Razak’s royal pardon judicial review.

She said this in response to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) move to seek a gag order over the matter yesterday.

“In my personal opinion, there shouldn’t be a gag order,” she told reporters.

“Number one, the matter is already in the public domain.

“Number two, Parliament is going to sit next month. So, all this will be raised again.”

Yesterday, it was reported that the AGC had sought to impose a gag order surrounding Najib’s royal pardon judicial review.

While opposing the gag order, the Pengerang MP acknowledged that the AGC might have its legal reasons.

“And they will submit to the court, let the court make the decision, and we have to respect the court,” she said briefly.

When asked who the gag order would apply to, Azalina said she was unsure and couldn’t explain the rationale behind the application.

“When the AGC submits for application, they will ask the court.

“To what extent, I wouldn’t know because I am not in charge of AGC, so I wouldn’t know how the application is going to look,” she explained.

Regarding former law minister Takiyuddin Hassan’s claim that the attorney-generals’s handling of an addendum from the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong to the current monarch was improper, Azalina declined to comment.

“I can’t comment because the matter is in court.

“Who is wrong or right depends on the judge. Maybe Takiyuddin can submit his affidavit or something; I don’t know, I’m not involved,” she remarked. – The Star