Former Malaysian prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was cleared of four counts of abuse of power involving RM232.5 million (US$50 million), though he still faces three other charges of money laundering.
Senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Dr Oh Ei Sun noted that the PN coalition has come to be dominated by one component party, the Islamist Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS).
“(Muhyiddin) has in a sense yielded the platform to his partner party PAS in championing the fate of his coalition. But now, having his somewhat triumphant spirit reinstalled, I think he will be much more vocal and proactive in reclaiming the mantle of his Perikatan Nasional (coalition) in the Malaysian political arena,” Dr Oh told CNA’s Asia Now.
He added that the acquittal of the four charges means that Muhyiddin can solidify the leadership of PN for himself and for his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) party within the coalition.
“It’s what he's aiming for primarily at the moment,” he said.
Dr Oh added the political fortunes of Muhyiddin and his coalition are rising. PN won 146 out of 245 seats up for grabs across six states in Saturday’s polls, and made headway into states held by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan coalition.
On Tuesday, Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin ruled that the four abuse of power charges were vague, flawed and unfounded because they did not specify the details of the offences committed.
Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania James Chin said that Muhyiddin has always maintained that the money was never meant for him. “He has made a consistent argument that this money was never meant for him personally. It was basically what we might call political funding. It was money donated to his party. It just happens that he was the president of the party, so he was there to receive it on behalf of Bersatu,” he said.
This is a “major issue” that the legal system will have to deal with – whether political parties can receive money directly from donors especially when hundreds of millions of dollars are involved, said Prof Chin.
The acquittal of the four charges will have “major implications" for the other set of charges related to money laundering, Prof Chin said.
The government is appealing against the acquittal, but if that is not successful, then the money laundering charges cannot go ahead, he said. - CNA
Meanwhile, The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) has filed an appeal against the high court’s decision to acquit former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of four abuse of power charges for allegedly using his position to obtain RM232.5 million in gratification for Bersatu through the Jana Wibawa project.
AG Tan Sri Idrus Harun said the appeal against this morning’s court decision is only with regard to the four charges under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
“There are still three other charges against Tan Sri Muhyiddin under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), for which the case mention at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court is set for September 19, 2023,” he said in a statement today.
Judge Jamil freed Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin, 76, after finding that the four charges were vague and baseless because they did not state the details of the alleged offences.
Muhyiddin was accused of using his position as prime minister and Bersatu president, at the time, to obtain for the political party RM232.5 million from three companies, namely Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd and Mamfor Sdn Bhd as well as an individual named Datuk Azman Yusoff.
Muhyiddin also faces two charges of obtaining the proceeds from illegal activities amounting to RM195 million from Bukhary Equity, allegedly deposited into Bersatu’s CIMB Bank account.
He allegedly committed the offence at the Menara KL CIMB Bank branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral here between February 25, 2021 and July 16, 2021; and February 8 and July 8, 2022.
On March 13 at the Shah Alam sessions court, the Pagoh MP was also charged with one count of receiving proceeds from an illegal activity amounting to RM5 million and the case has been transferred to the sessions court here for a joint trial. – Bernama
Well done, Azam Baki of MACC. Also, well done, Idrus Harun of AGC. You both did a splendid job of mucking up the charges. I guess Mahiaddin must be happy that his two appointees when he was PM8 are bearing fruit. Oh .. One more thing. We must also thank Anwar Ibrahim for retaining these two agency heads. - Sharifuddin Abdul Latiff
Only charge sheet is defective and AG can refile with valid charge sheet,right? - Anonymous 11223355
Don't forget who appointed the present AG. The charges were so badly framed that even a ship can sail through the loophole. Was it deliberate or incompetency? - Fairmind
The beginning of the end. It now appears that the charges were indeed “politically motivated”. PH has now the proverbial pie on its face. If you can’t even frame the charges properly, it implies you did it hurriedly for political expedience, not justice. Either way, AGC looks quite bad. - Cogito Ergo Sum
Our judiciary is fair as you have just seen. Ask your son in law to come back to prove his innocent in the court if he did nothing wrong. Continue hiding outside of Malaysia will not make both of you look good. - P.Ramlee
And find a better prosecutor, if any. Borrow from the private sector, if needed - BrownCheetah9736
Sebelum dan Selepas PRN...
cheers.
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