PETALING JAYA: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) deputy secretary-general Armizan Mohd Ali today called on all parties to put their trust in the legal process after an assistant minister and a GRS assemblyman were charged with corruption yesterday.
In a statement, Armizan said that nobody should jump to conclusions based on perceptions, sentiments, or one-sided media reports.
“Let us not be quick to label someone a corrupt criminal before the legal process has run its full course. Perception is not always reality, and we have a legal system for a reason.
“I am not asking anyone to be particularly fair to GRS, but let us not turn a blind eye to the realities before us,” he said.
He also said that when it came to allegations of corruption, many leaders across various parties had been implicated – some from the opposition, and others from within the ruling coalition itself.
“Some have already been tried and acquitted, others have been convicted. Some were granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, while others have ongoing trials that have dragged on for years.
“As for the so-called ‘money trails’ in corruption cases, we’ve seen funds go directly into personal accounts, into spouses’ accounts, proxy companies, or even take the form of assets and other benefits.”
But despite such cases, Armizan said GRS leaders had refrained from making public or official comments on the legal proceedings of leaders from other parties.
“Even when we have been cornered or pushed to the wall, we have not retaliated with comparisons. We have instead chosen to let the legal process take its course,” he added.
On Monday, Sabah assistant industrial development and entrepreneurship minister Andi Suryady Bandy and Sindumin assemblyman Dr Yusof Yacob were charged with receiving bribes related to mineral prospecting licence applications in the state.
Andi, the Tanjung Batu assemblyman from Umno, and Yusof, from Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah, were charged with receiving RM200,000 and RM150,000 in bribes, respectively.
Businessman Albert Tei was charged with bribing them. All three claimed trial.
Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said his administration would let the law take its course and would not interfere in any investigation or legal action against any of its government leaders.
Sabah PKR chairman Mustapha Sakmud, however, reportedly described the scandal as a shocking development that could significantly change the Sabah political landscape.
