Former Malaysian Prime Minister Acquitted Of Graft Charges

Former Malaysian Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin was acquitted by the high court of four corruption charges just days after his opposition bloc expanded its influence in local elections.

Muhyiddin said the high court ruled in favor of his application to overturn four charges of abusing his power to obtain 232.5 million ringgit ($50 million) in bribes for his Bersatu party. He was charged in March and still faces three charges of money laundering involving 200 million ringgit ($43 million).

“From the start, I have said that these are politically motivated charges. I have not done anything wrong and today it has been proven that these were false allegations,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.

His lawyer, Hisyam Teik, said the court agreed with the defense contention that the charges were defective legally and lacked details on how the offenses were committed.

Teik said with the collapse of the four main charges, they were confident the other three money-laundering charges would not stand.

The graft charges revolved around the award of contracts to selected ethnic Malay contractors allegedly in return for bribes, and approving an appeal by a business tycoon over the cancellation of his tax exemption, he said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said they would appeal the court’s decision.

Muhyiddin is the second former leader charged with crimes after ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak, who received multiple charges after losing a 2018 general election.

Najib began a 12-year prison term last year after losing his final appeal in the first of several graft trials.

AP/Christopher Ojilere