The Home Ministry is not in a position to comment on whether prisoners’ pardon petitions should be considered, as its role is only to carry out the Pardons Board’s decisions, said Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

He said this when asked to comment on a statement by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu, who proposed that all convicts be allowed to serve the latter half of their jail term at home.

Saifuddin pointed out that any individual is entitled by law to submit a pardon petition to the relevant authorities, but it is not the Home Ministry’s jurisdiction to consider such applications.

“The right to submit a pardon petition already exists under the law and is open to anyone, regardless of position or wealth. Whether it is the small man, the big man, the rich, the poor, a VIP, or an ordinary citizen, that right already exists under the law.