He said he only showed court reporters the letter carrying the seal of the previous King on Feb 7 as he did not get Najib’s permission to disclose the contents of the documents at the time.

“It’s not because (the documents) are confidential,” he said today, explaining that the confidentiality of the documents had nothing to do with his decision.

“They are public documents. I just didn’t get my client’s permission.”

Shafee, who was speaking at a forum titled “Justice and Mercy: A Forum on Reforms to the Pardons Board in Malaysia”, said it was wrong to think that these documents were confidential.

On Feb 2, the Pardons Board halved Najib’s sentence from a 12-year prison term to six years for misappropriating SRC International funds amounting to RM42 million.

The board also reduced his initial fine of RM210 million to RM50 million.

The Pardons Board had recommended that Najib serve out the remainder of his sentence, according to excerpts of the letter that Shafee read out at a press conference earlier.

In response, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng had urged the Pardons Board to explain whether Shafee broke the law by divulging to the public the inner workings behind the decision.

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