KUALA LUMPUR: The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has called on the judiciary to keep Datuk Seri Najib Razak's judicial review application to serve his remaining jail sentence under house arrest hearing public.
CIJ executive director Wathshlah Naidu said all semblance of inequality and double standards must be removed and the principle of equality before the law must be upheld.
She said barring the media and the flow of unbiased information on this case, effectively prevents the public from monitoring the outcome of a corruption case that rocked the nation, making it difficult to hold people accountable and ensure justice prevails.
"CIJ is deeply concerned with the High Court's decision to allow former prime minister Najib's application to be heard in chambers, thus barring the media from covering his judicial review. While we respect the powers of the judiciary and judicial processes, it cannot be seen to undermine democratic principles.
"Najib's bid to seek house arrest for the remainder of his jail sentence is a matter of utmost public interest and the basic tenets of democracy will require the judicial process to be transparent and not be shrouded in a cloud of secrecy.
"The interests of political actors cannot supersede public interest," she said in a statement.
Watshlah said the judicial system must be underscored by public interest and democratic principles, and there should be no semblance of double standards present within the system.
"Najib, an individual who is from a generational line of political elite, is seen to have disproportionately more access to justice than the general public.
"His recent partial pardon has already set a precedent where the grounds and justification for the decision are yet to be disclosed and made transparent to the public. Access to justice must be implemented fairly using public interest tests and international standards as a baseline.
"It is only by doing this can we begin to eradicate inequality in both the political and judicial system and society as a whole. It is only then that people can once again be confident in the action of our legal and political system," she said .
She added that barring the media from covering matters that involve political expediency further undermines the trust in the judiciary and ultimately the trust in justice and democracy.
"Political expediency should not play any part in deterring the media as it actively prevents unbiased information from being reported and reduces the credibility of the media as they cannot play an active role in reporting on public interest matters.
"This further sets a precedent that the media cannot cover issues that involve political expediency and creates a system of opacity that leads to a trust deficit".
Yesterday, the public and the media was excluded from hearing Najib's judicial review application.
This comes after the former prime minister's defence team applied for the public to be excluded due to "several sensitive materials" in the case.
Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah made the application at the onset of the proceeding before High Court Judge Datuk Amerjeet Singh yesterday.