KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said today he merely asked the then attorney-general (AG) Idrus Harun why he had moved the court to grant Ahmad Zahid Hamidi a conditional discharge and that he did not discuss the matter beyond that.
Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat he had requested the AG to provide an explanation for asking the court to grant Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
“When the AG made the decision, I asked him why. There was no discussion.
“He then provided 11 reasons for the decision to drop the charges,” he said in the winding-up debate on the mid-term review of the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Earlier this month, Zahid was granted a conditional discharge on all 47 corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering charges involving Yayasan Akalbudi.
He had been accused of embezzling millions of ringgit from his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi, and accepting bribes for various projects during his tenure as the home minister between 2013 and 2018.
Since the conditional discharge, various quarters, including government and opposition MPs, have alleged government interference in Zahid’s case.
Anwar said Idrus told him he did not want to leave matters hanging before retiring.
“I asked him (Idrus), couldn’t (the decision) be postponed? He said, ‘No, it’s my duty, my conscience, and I have to do it before I leave.’
“I accepted it because of (Article) 145(3) (of the Federal Constitution),” said the prime minister.
Article 145(3) states that the AG may institute, conduct or discontinue any proceeding for an offence, other than proceedings before a shariah court, a native court or a court martial.
Anwar added that the granting of a DNAA was not new and that there were precedents. - FMT
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