Muhyiddin seeks transfer of power abuse case to High Court
Published on: Monday, May 08, 2023
By:
FMT, V Anbalagan
Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is facing charges of abuse of power and money laundering in relation to the Jana Wibawa programme he initiated when in office.
Kuala Lumpur: Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin wants his abuse of power and money laundering charges linked to the Jana Wibawa programme heard in the High Court.
Lawyer Rosli Dahlan, a member of Muhyiddin’s legal team, said an application was filed on April 27 to transfer the cases from the sessions court as they involve several constitutional issues.
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He said the defence intends to challenge the constitutionality of various provisions in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 during proceedings.
“Since complex issues of law and fact will be raised, it is appropriate for the case to be heard before the High Court,” he told reporters after a case management before senior assistant registrar Nur Azizah Jaafar today.
Rosli said the application to transfer the cases was made by the defence since the prosecution did not initiate it themselves.
“In all of former prime minister Najib Razak’s corruption cases, the prosecution filed a certificate to transfer the case from the sessions court to the High Court (for) trial,” he said.
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On March 10, Muhyiddin pleaded not guilty to all the charges after they were read out to him before sessions court judge Azura Alwi.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Bersatu president and Perikatan Nasional chairman, is alleged to have committed the four abuse of power offences at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between Feb 8 and Aug 20, 2021.
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As prime minister, he is alleged to have received RM232.5 million and to have committed money laundering of RM200 million, which is the subject matter of three charges.
Rosli said Nur Azizah has given the prosecution until May 29 to file an affidavit in response to Muhyiddin’s transfer application.
A case management will be held on May 31.
The Jana Wibawa programme was introduced in November 2020 by the Muhyiddin-led government as a Covid-19 stimulus initiative to help Bumiputera contractors.
It became mired in controversy after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the costs of some projects were too high and that they were awarded without going through a tender process.
On April 19, Muhyiddin also filed an application in the High Court to strike out the abuse of power charges on grounds that the charges under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act did not disclose any offence.
He wants all proceedings in the sessions court to be stayed pending the outcome of the striking out application.
During case management today, deputy registrar Nur Shafini Mustafha gave the prosecution until May 22 to file an affidavit in reply.
She also fixed the matter for case management on June 12.
Lawyers Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, K Kumaraendran, Chetan Jethwani, Amer Hamzah Arshad and Kee Wei Lon appeared for Muhyiddin in both case managements.
Deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Akram Gharib, Noralis Mat and Nor Asma Ahmad represented the prosecution.
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