AN UMNO leader has challenged Bersatu and its Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal to state their stance on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation into Justice Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
“Wan Fayhsal should not be claiming that MACC had leaked details of the report, but reveal his stance on Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest and breach of the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009 when presiding over former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s SRC International trial in the High Court,” said UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi.
Yesterday (April 12), Wan Fayhsal claimed that there was a conspiracy to free Najib through a royal pardon.
He noted that the majority of the people did not want to see the former PM freed from prison and disagreed with any effort to expedite his release.
Wan Fayhsal’s comments came after Bersatu Youth lodged a police report against MACC for purportedly leaking details of its investigation into Nazlan.
Moreover, the report filed by Bersatu Youth assistant secretary Muhammad Faiz Rahmad claimed that MACC leaked material to Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
It also claimed that details were then disseminated to the media to give the impression that Nazlan had handed down an unfair judgement against Najib in the SRC case.
Dismissing Wan Fayhsal’s accusation that there was a plot to secure a pardon for Najib, Puad stated that it was Najib’s right to seek a pardon, as enshrined by the Federal Constitution.
“Wan Fayhsal often makes false assumptions. Where is the evidence that the majority of the people object to Najib seeking a royal pardon?” Puad said in a statement today.
He pointed out that Najib applied for a pardon because he believed that he was not accorded a fair trial due to Nazlan’s alleged conflict of interest.
Last week, UMNO secretary-general Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki confirmed that the party had asked the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to consider granting the former prime minister a royal pardon.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after he was convicted of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering involving RM42 mil belonging to SRC. — April 13, 2023
