Anwar objects to Sanusi's application challenging legality of his royal pardon

KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has objected to an application filed by Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor for the High Court to decide on several questions of law pertaining to the royal pardon granted to him five years ago.

According to Anwar, Muhammad Sanusi’s application concerning the royal pardon, which was granted to him by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 16, 2018, was beyond court’s jurisdiction.

The PKR president said based on Article 42 of the Federal Constitution and read together with Article 181, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the power to grant pardons and that power is permanent and shall remain unaffected.

"There are various cases before the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal that support the legal principle that the court cannot confirm or change a decision of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

"This includes the decision to grant me the royal pardon, which directly proves that the court has no jurisdiction to do so,” he said in an affidavit filed through S.N. Nair at the Alor Setar High Court on April 25.

Anwar stressed that Muhammad Sanusi’s application was irrelevant, frivolous, insulting to the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and an abuse of the judicial process to make decisions on matters that cannot be decided.

"In accordance with the pardon granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 16, 2018, I am fully pardoned, and all convictions brought against me, including the court records, are set aside and any statement relating to the matter is deemed defamatory and actionable,” Anwar said in the affidavit.

On March 31, Muhammad Sanusi filed an application in the Alor Setar High Court, asking the court to determine whether the royal pardon granted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim five years ago was to set aside not only his sentencing but also his conviction.

The application was filed by Muhammad Sanusi, among others, on the grounds that based on the documents he cited, there was no evidence that the pardon reversed Anwar's conviction in whole or in part and expunged all his previous criminal convictions.

Meanwhile, lawyer Yusfarizal Yusoff, representing Muhammad Sanusi, when contacted by Bernama said the case management has been fixed on June 28 in the Alor Setar High Court.

On Dec 13 last year, Anwar, as the plaintiff, filed a defamation lawsuit against Muhammad Sanusi over the latter’s statements linking him to immoral behaviour in the Jelajah PN Best Tambun speech campaign.

Anwar claimed that the defamatory statement implied that he had obtained the royal pardon through fraud and hence remained unpardonable and had deceived the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, while also implying that he is a liar, untrustworthy, unethical and betraying the mandate of the people.

He said the statements were made with malicious intent to incite public anger and stir up personal hatred against him and PH during the campaign period for the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year. - BERNAMA