KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has applied for a judicial review of the Prison Department's decision to not grant him permission to attend parliamentary sessions.
His lawyers Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee and Rahmat Hazlan confirmed this when contacted on Wednesday (Oct 5).
According to the application sighted by the media, Najib is seeking to quash the Prison Department's decision, and also a declaration that he is entitled to attend Parliament on the scheduled dates.
In his affidavit in support of the application, the Pekan Member of Parliament (MP) said the scheduled dates are Oct 3 until Nov 29.
In his application, Najib is also seeking to set aside the decision by the Prison Department to not allow him access to his aides for parliamentary, legislative and constituent work.
He is also seeking a declaration that he is entitled to have "reasonable access" to his parliamentary officers in order for him to do his work as an MP.
Najib has named the government, the home affairs minister, and the commissioner general of prisons as respondents.
The hearing for leave is scheduled for Oct 12 in the High Court before judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid. In judicial review cases, leave has to be obtained before the application can proceed to ensure that the action is not vexatious or an abuse of court process.
Earlier this week, Najib's lead lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the press that Najib's request to attend Parliament had been rejected for "security reasons".
Shafee said the Prison Department director general informed him of this via a letter dated Sept 30. He said he subsequently wrote to Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin on the same day, asking the minister to look into the matter.
The senior lawyer also said that he would apply for a judicial review if Hamzah did not respond with regard to the matter.
Najib is serving a 12-year prison sentence, after the Federal Court dismissed his final appeal in the RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd case.