Ex-AG Gani's affidavit helped secure Musa's acquittal

An affidavit by former attorney-general (AG) Abdul Gani Patail aided former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman's acquittal from graft charges.

This was revealed today by the current AG Idrus Harun, in explaining why prosecutors withdrew 46 charges against Musa this morning.

In a statement, Idrus said Gani (above) had issued the affidavit in support of Musa's application to strike out the charges.

"The former AG defended the decision taken in 2012 to take no further action against Musa as investigation revealed the monies involved were political funding.

"The former AG also stated that the decision was made collectively, by high-level individuals being Abdul Majid Hamzah (former head of prosecution division), Abu Kassim Mohamad (former MACC chief commissioner) and Mustafar Ali (former MACC director of investigation division).

"After studying and perusing the investigation paper from a legal standpoint, the former AG in the exercise of his discretion decided not to proceed with prosecution," he said.

In view of this and the representation made by Musa (below) to have the charges struck out, Idrus said his department was duty-bound to review the whole evidence of the case.

It was then found that some evidence could not be obtained or that some witnesses could no longer testify.

Moreover, said Idrus, the Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong had cleared Musa of wrongdoing.

"Having studied the whole available evidence and upon discussion held with the prosecution and investigation team, I decided to withdraw all the charges against Musa.

"In cases of this nature, documentary evidence is vital to prove a case. Documentary evidence from companies and banks which were expected could not be obtained through mutual legal assistance in criminal matters from Hong Kong. 

"The Department of Justice Hong Kong advised that companies and banks in Hong Kong are only required to keep records for seven years and it is highly unlikely that neither the banks nor the companies would still have the records," he said. 

"Apart from that, there are witnesses for the prosecution who have passed away, suffered serious medical ailments or are not in Malaysia any more,"  Idrus (below) added.

Although prosecutors had sought a discharge this morning, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin granted Musa a full acquittal on all charges.

Musa was charged in 2019 on 46 counts of money laundering and corruption for allegedly pocketing from timber companies between 2004 and 2008.

He fled the country soon after the fall of the BN government in 2018 and returned to face charges.

In a statement after being acquitted, Musa said the evidence of his innocence was "indisputable".  - Mkini