KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has submitted his first letter of representation to the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), seeking the withdrawal of seven charges against him related to abuse of power and receiving funds from unlawful activities linked to the Jana Wibawa programme.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin told High Court judge K Muniandy during a case mention on Wednesday that the AGC is reviewing the representation, which was filed by Muhyiddin’s legal team at the end of July.
While the court was not presented with the full details, Muhyiddin’s lawyer Rosli Dahlan told The Edge that the representation drew on previous court rulings that political donations do not constitute a criminal offence. These included the acquittals of former federal territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in 2021, who was cleared of receiving RM2 million while in Cabinet, and former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman in June this year, who was acquitted of charges involving RM1.12 million, though the prosecution is appealing.
Rosli noted that unlike the cases of Tengku Adnan and Syed Saddiq, where donations were deposited into their personal accounts, all contributions to Muhyiddin went directly into Bersatu’s party accounts.
The representation also referenced former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who has not been charged despite the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seizing RM176 million in cash from several safe houses. Additionally, it cited a 2017 statement by MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, who said the MACC had no jurisdiction over political funding and that it was not a criminal offence.
The court has set Oct 7 for the next mention. Muhyiddin, who attended the hearing with lawyers Rosli and Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad, had earlier succeeded in moving the case to the High Court in June, after the previous judge ruled that the constitutional issues involved were of “extraordinary difficulty” and could be resolved more efficiently there.
The Perikatan Nasional chairman and Bersatu president faces four counts of abuse of power for allegedly soliciting RM232.5 million for his party from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff under the Jana Wibawa programme — a Covid-19-era government initiative aimed at Bumiputera contractors.
The remaining three charges allege that he received RM200 million in illegal proceeds from Bukhary Equity, which were deposited into Bersatu’s AmBank and CIMB Bank accounts.
