"I did not ask for the pardon", says PM Anwar
KOUSALYA SELVAM ANISA AZNAN20 Dec 2022 12:13pm
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He said this was initiated and given by former Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Kelantan's Sultan Muhammad V.
The prime minister said Sultan Muhammad himself had called him when he was being treated in a rehabilition centre while still serving his sentence and desribed his sentence as a 'travesty of justice'.
"I did not ask for the pardon, instead 'Anwar, I will give you a full pardon because I have been following the developments of your court case, which has seen breaches in the principle of justice'," Anwar said.
He said this when presenting the Consolidated Fund (Expenditure On Account) Bill 2022 in Dewan Rakyat today.
The issue of Anwar's pardon in 2018 was raised by opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, in the debate on the vote of confidence for the prime minister yesterday.
Anwar was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption in April 1999, and another nine years in August 2000 for sodomy.
In February 2015, he went to jail again after his conviction in the Sodomy 2 case was upheld by the Federal Court.
He served three years of his sentence before receiving a royal pardon following Pakatan Harapan’s success in the 14th general election (GE14) in May 2018.
