KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh today sought to portray Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s affirmation of judicial independence as vindication of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

In a post on Facebook, Dr Akmal thanked the prime minister for the “brave confession”, after Anwar said he was not involved in any way in Rosmah’s acquittal of 17 money laundering and tax evasion charges this week.

“So, all the accusations against Datin Seri Rosmah before were just malicious slander aimed at bringing down the previous BN (Barisan Nasional) government, since she was acquitted of all the charges she faced a few days ago.

“Rosmah’s ring, Rosmah this, Rosmah that — today, Allah has revealed the truth,” he said.

Dr Akmal also called it a shame that the family of Rosmah and her husband, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was allegedly maligned with baseless accusations.

Earlier today, Anwar said criticism against him and the judiciary over Rosmah’s acquittal were unfounded, suggesting that a rush to prosecute following the 2018 general election may have led to flawed cases.

On Thursday, High Court judge K. Muniandy acquitted Rosmah of 17 million money laundering and tax evasion charges after ruling that the charges were “illegal and flawed.”

The Attorney General’s Chambers has filed a notice of appeal over the decision.

Rosmah was first charged on October 4, 2018 in the Sessions Court. The case was later transferred to the High Court.

Najib remains in prison after being sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of all charges in the SRC International case, although this has been halved to six years by the Pardons Board. - malaymail