High Court acquits Muhyiddin of RM232.5mil graft charges
Published on: Tuesday, August 15, 2023
By:
FMT, V Anbalagan
Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged with abusing his position to obtain bribes totalling RM232.5 million for Bersatu.
Kuala Lumpur: The High Court has allowed an application by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin to strike out the four charges of abusing his position to obtain bribes totalling RM232.5 million for Bersatu.
Justice Jamil Hussin said the charges did not clearly disclose any offence known to law, and were not sufficiently clear to enable Muhyiddin, the Bersatu president, to prepare his defence.
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“The charges are defective and I am using my powers as there is abuse of process,” he said.
As such, he said, the charges are struck out and Muhyiddin is acquitted.
Jamil said the charges lacked sufficient particulars as required under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“This is a mandatory requirement under the law. An accused should know how he committed an offence,” he said.
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He said the defects in the charges could not be cured under the law.
In this case, he said, the applicant should not be placed in a position of having to speculate how he is alleged to have committed the offences, “or else, his right to a fair trial will be violated”.
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On April 19, Muhyiddin applied for the court to annul the charges and acquit him.
He also asked for all proceedings in the sessions court, where he was charged, to be stayed pending the outcome of the striking-out application.
In the application, he said the charges did not disclose any offence under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
He also said the charges were an abuse of process and lacking in particulars as to how he abused his power as prime minister between March 2020 and August 2021.
Muhyiddin was charged with abusing his power as prime minister between Feb 8 and Aug 20, 2021 in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme by seeking to obtain RM232.5 million for Bersatu.
He pleaded not guilty after the charges were read out to him in the sessions court here before judge Azura Alwi on March 10.
Outside the court, Muhyiddin’s lead counsel, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said the defence team was grateful to the judge who accepted their arguments.
“We have always maintained that the charges framed against our client were defective and an abuse of process, and His Lordship agreed with us,” he said.
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