Tengku Zafrul asks to correct ‘inaccuracies’ in Zahid’s ‘house arrest’ affidavit

Tengku Zafrul Aziz says he intends to remain neutral and does not wish to take any position with regard to the merits of Najib Razak’s application for the government to produce the purported ‘supplementary order’. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Tengku Zafrul Aziz has sought the High Court’s permission to correct alleged “inaccuracies” in an affidavit affirmed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in support of Najib Razak’s suit relating to his pardon process.

The request was made by letter issued on Tengku Zafrul’s behalf by law firm Cecil Abraham & Partners, according to Berita Harian,

The letter, addressed to Justice Amarjeet Singh’s secretary, said the investment, trade and industry minister wished to correct certain inaccuracies in Umno president Zahid’s affidavit.

Zahid had on April 9 affirmed an affidavit to support Najib’s application to compel the government to produce a purported “supplementary order” issued by the former king allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

“Our client does not take any position with regard to the merits of the dispute between the parties. Our client only wants to ensure that the facts are presented accurately to the court in an unbiased manner.

“We hope the court will consider and grant our client written permission to file the affidavit for the reasons stated,” the lawyers said in their letter.

Najib is seeking leave to commence proceedings to compel the government to produce the “supplementary order”, purportedly issued by former Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.

On Feb 2, the Federal Territories Pardons Board announced that it had halved Najib’s prison sentence in his SRC International case from 12 years to six, and reduced his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.

In his application filed on April 1, Najib claimed the then king had at the meeting held on Jan 29 issued the supplementary decree allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.

He said his lawyers had written to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and other top government leaders to confirm the existence of the purported supplementary order, but had not received a reply. They said the government was acting in contempt by not executing it.

In an affidavit filed in support of Najib’s application which surfaced last Wednesday, Zahid claimed to have viewed a copy of the purported order on Tengku Zafrul’s mobile phone.

Zahid alleged that the purported copy Tengku Zafrul showed him had been taken from the original shown to Tengku Zafrul by Al-Sultan Abdullah.

Najib, 70, is currently serving his sentence at Kajang Prison and is due to be released on Aug 23, 2028.