Muhyiddin DAA: Bersatu Youth claims vindication, seeks bank freeze lift even as 3 other charges remain

 

Bersatu Youth has urged the MACC to lift the freeze on the party’s bank accounts after party president Muhyiddin Yassin was discharged and acquitted (DAA) from four out of seven charges linked to the Jana Wibawa project.

Claiming vindication following the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision today, Bersatu Youth information chief Harris Idaham Rashid said there is no longer any “legal or moral basis” to continue the freeze on Bersatu’s bank accounts.

However, the former prime minister still faces three charges of using his position to obtain RM25.3 million in bribes for the party from three companies - Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd and KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd - in connection with Jana Wibawa.

Without mentioning the remaining charges Muhyiddin (below) is accused of, Harris (above) said the DAA today signifies that Muhyiddin’s administration was “always clean” and anchored in the law, while “completely dismantling all malicious allegations from opponents”.

“Today’s truth becomes a sacred call to arms: Bersatu is now ready to rise with full solidarity and total strength. These tyrannical obstacles have not weakened our dignity in the slightest.

“Instead, they further ignite the flame of Bersatu Youth’s struggle to forge ahead, shield Muhyiddin’s leadership, and demand absolute justice for the rakyat nationwide,” he declared.

In June, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Aliza Sulaiman dismissed Bersatu’s challenge against the MACC’s freezing and seizure orders against the party’s bank accounts.

The judge ruled that Muhyiddin failed to establish that the respondents' decisions were tainted by illegality, irrationality or bad faith.

The DAA received by Muhyiddin today covers three money laundering charges and one abuse of power charge involving RM200 million related to Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd

Judge Noor Ruwena Nurdin ordered the full acquittal after deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Akram reportedly told the court that the prosecution did not intend to proceed with the four charges under Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, with Section 254(3) allowing the court to direct an acquittal.

Muhyiddin, 79, was accused of using his positions as prime minister and Bersatu president between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021, to obtain RM200 million in gratification for the party from Bukhary Equity over the Jana Wibawa programme, which was a Covid-19 stimulus initiative to help bumiputera contractors. - Mkini