KUALA LUMPUR: Umno is appealing to the compassion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to consider granting full royal pardon to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Its secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said Umno would submit an appeal to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to consider granting the royal pardon to Najib soon as per Article 42(1) of the Federal Constitution.
The matter, said Asyraf, was deliberated, decided and agreed upon when the Umno Supreme Council convened its monthly meeting today.
"The party will enclose a memorandum signed by the entire Umno leadership at all of the party's 191 divisions including Umno Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings when we submit the appeal to the king," he said in a statement today.
The party's supreme council, he said, also discussed the March 31 decision by the Federal Court, which dismissed application by Najib to review his conviction for misappropriating SRC International funds.
"The party's supreme council took note of the disappointment expressed by Umno members at the grassroot level who were concerned with such a decision, which they viewed as unfair.
"This is in line with the statement by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli, who chaired a five-member bench of the Federal Court.
"Justice Abdul Rahman had said Najib was not accorded a fair court hearing and that the latter should be freed and acquitted," Asyraf said.
In his 78-page grounds of written judgment, Abdul Rahman said it appeared clear to him that there had been a miscarriage of justice that the applicant (Najib) had been deprived of a fair hearing.
Although there was no question that Najib was charged with serious offences, Abdul Rahman said it was important for an accused person to be legally represented to guarantee the fairness of his trial or the appeal process.
On a separate matter, Asyraf said the party's supreme council had fixed four days beginning June 7 this year for the Umno General Assembly.