Hannah Yeoh calls viral Najib house-arrest document fake; Pardons Board yet to meet
PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh has denied signing a purported house-arrest order for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that has been circulating on social media, describing the document as fake.
In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Yeoh said the Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB) had not yet convened to deliberate on the matter, and urged members of the public not to share the document further.
“I have never signed a house arrest order such as the one currently circulating on social media. The Pardons Board has yet to convene. Please do not circulate this fake document,” she said.
She added that her press secretary had already lodged a police report over the circulation of the forged letter, which purportedly bore her signature.
The denial comes as attention on Najib’s pardon bid intensifies, following reports that the FTPB is expected to reconvene today to consider his application, a week after the matter was deferred at its previous sitting on Sept 11. Some reports have suggested Najib’s pardon application will be the only item on today’s agenda.
At the Sept 11 meeting, the board chaired by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim deferred a decision on Najib’s application, extending the uncertainty surrounding his bid for clemency.
Najib, 73, was convicted six years ago of misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds. He was originally sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined RM210 million, a sentence the Pardons Board later reduced to six years and a RM50 million fine. He has been serving his term at Kajang Prison since August 2022.
A separate bid by Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, based on an alleged addendum order from the previous Yang di-Pertuan Agong, was dismissed by the High Court in December last year.
