No DNAA in Islam, power of pardon only for victims, Hadi tells Dewan Rakyat

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang today defended his view on giving pardons to convicted criminals – which recently led to a fresh police investigation – contrasting such provisions with Islamic justice, which he said confers the right to pardon only to victims of crime.

"The right to pardon is granted to the victim, not to the king or any pardons board. The right to give pardon belongs to the one who is wronged, whether to forgive or to be paid blood money or compensation, in which case there must be maintenance paid until their death.

"This shows that there's no DNAA in Islamic justice," the Marang MP said in his speech at the Dewan Rakyat today, making reference to the discharge not amounting to an acquittal request by the Attorney-General's Chambers to halt Umno chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's corruption trial.

Hadi said that for pointing out the Islamic mechanism for pardoning convicts, police reports were lodged against him.

Praising police officers for treating him well during his various sessions, Hadi said he was prepared to be jailed if the court found him guilty for his comments.

"I'm ready to be punished. I don't know whether the punishment is imprisonment or a fine; I choose imprisonment," he said, adding that he would rather contribute money to Pasti, the network of Islamic preschools run by PAS.

Indian example

Hadi, meanwhile, took the government to task over its use of state machinery during the six state elections last month.

He said this contrasted with India, giving an example of how an Indian court had found late prime minister Indira Gandhi guilty of misusing government machinery during the election campaign and declared her seat vacant to pave the way for a re-election.

"She competed and won in two constituencies. One of the constituencies had a petition because she misused state machinery. She had used only a car, not a helicopter.

"This happened in India. Here, I don't know; you can do anything," he said.

During the recent state election campaigns, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim defended his use of a government helicopter to travel to campaign events.