YOURSAY | ‘He has no shame; he has not repented and he should not be pardoned.’

Following Najib's sentence, Edmund Bon wants pardons system reformed

Najib has 14 days to file for pardon or lose MP status

OCT: If former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak is pardoned, it would be another first in our history. Here is a person who has been convicted and for him to walk as a free man would make a mockery of the judiciary.

Nowhere in the world has a similar pardon been granted for a convicted felon who is known as a kleptocrat, dubbed as a “national embarrassment” and seen as a perpetual liar.

He did not serve for king and country and beyond the call of duty but sought to enrich not just himself, but his family and cronies.

The government must not show that Malaysia is a banana republic where the rich and famous get preferential treatment. Let Najib get what he deserves.

Gerard Lourdesamy: You may get a pardon only after serving at least three years in jail.

Former Selangor menteri besar Harun Idris was pardoned after three years for corruption. Former culture, youth and sports minister Mokhtar Hashim was pardoned after eight years for manslaughter. Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was pardoned after three years and three months for unnatural sex.

It defeats the retributive and rehabilitative nature of a criminal sentence if a prisoner can obtain a pardon immediately or shortly after a conviction by the courts.

A royal pardon is not a legal right but a high prerogative power of the sovereign that can only be exercised in rare and exceptional circumstances after consultation with the Pardons Board.

There must be strong grounds for the prerogative of mercy to be exercised including the nature of the crime, the length of the sentence already served, the behaviour of the prisoner, his past antecedents and contributions to society, age and medical grounds, and the level of remorse and contrition shown by the prisoner for his crimes.

The correctness of the conviction and sentence are not relevant considerations.

Knucklehead: Reform the pardon system as you may, but do not allow Najib to be pardoned. My great-grandchild will pay for his deliberate sins and the gala merriment that he and his cronies had been enjoying for years.

He should never be pardoned. Such an unrepented thief, who even goes to the mosque and swears in the name of Allah. He has no shame; he has not repented and he should not be pardoned.

Way To Go: Does Najib deserve a pardon? His crime encompasses an entire regime, disgraced the party he led and brought financial debts to generations to come.

He has sullied the nation internationally with unprecedented damage to the economy and dignity of the nation. He and the party he led were voted out in an unprecedented historic manner by the people.

Does the country need a convicted criminal of this calibre to run the affairs of this country again? Has he ever shone an iota of regret for his crimes that allegedly went further than 1MDB that he has covered up using his dictatorial powers? Should these kinds of people be pardoned?

This is a matter for Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to consider.

Speaking Sense: Pardons are for people who are sorry for their crimes and show real remorse, and those who can still be an asset to society. They are not to reward arrogant and defiant liars.

Certainly, they are not for those whose freedom will only allow them to pursue their agenda to destroy the moral fabric of society.

No justice will be served by a pardon for an unrepentant person who has shown he is only out to harm society. So how can such a criminal be pardoned when we know Agong has the welfare of the country in his heart?

Be merciful to the criminal - let him serve his punishment so that he can come to repentance, for his own good.

Kilimanjaro: In a way, Umno has to shoulder the blame and burden for what and where Pekan MP Najib is now.

The lack of self-introspection by Umno and its leaders is obvious. "Umno is always right" seems to be the thinking running right through the party, and everyone else is blamed for its misfortune.

There seems to be no one in the upper echelons of the Umno leadership who is ready to accept that something is very wrong with the party. That sets a course for its eventual self-destruction.

AB Sulaiman: That the people are concerned over the possibility of a pardon is bad enough. But of greater concern is the apparent silence of PAS over Najib's prison sentence.

And why so? Because this organisation and other similar ones always go for syariah law, and this law says that the penalty for stealing or thievery is to cut the hands off. What's happening here?

Vent: I'm not holding my breath. Just look at the individuals on the Pardons Board. The attorney-general, the federal territories minister, and presided over by the House of Pahang?

Soon this verdict will be yet another Pyrrhic victory for Malaysians. Remember this land was proclaimed the land of endless possibilities by none other than the felon himself. He was prescient in this at least.

Steven Ong: The current system and Pardons Board are flawed.

The Pardons Board should include interested parties such as the Malaysian Bar, Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Transparency International, and MPs, and not just those who are close to the Agong or any political party.

Sealthedeal: Any government pardoning Najib will not survive the following election. Any Agong granting a pardon will be in direct conflict with the rakyat and that's not a good place to be. History tells us that.

Najib is guilty with more cases coming. He will likely spend the rest of his life in jail and he deserves it.

Apa Ini: Four years of endless litigation, a mountain of evidence, convictions upheld in three separate courts, billions stolen and for which crime dozens have already served jail time and censure in other countries, many millions already spent pursuing the case, anger and frustration of the Malaysian people and huge embarrassment for the nation internationally - and he can be pardoned?

Public confidence will erode beyond repair.

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