Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been acquitted of three money laundering charges and one abuse of power charge linked to Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd.
High Court judge Noor Ruwena Nurdin granted the acquittal after deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
The three money laundering charges involved Muhyiddin’s alleged receipt of RM200 million from Bukhary Equity, while the abuse of power charge concerned his alleged solicitation of the amount from the company.
Court rejects DNAA request
Ruwena said the prosecution had given no reason for seeking a DNAA, stating only that it did not wish to proceed with the charges.
“Therefore, I am of the view that in the interest of justice, the discretion of the court is to be exercised in favour of the accused, and that is to order him to be discharged and acquitted (of the four charges),” she said.
Earlier, Akram told the court that the prosecution had decided not to proceed with the four charges after reviewing the overall circumstances of the case.
“Accordingly, the prosecution is applying to invoke Section 254(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code and seeking an order from the court for the accused to be granted a DNAA,” he said.
Akram said the application concerned only the four Bukhary Equity charges and did not involve the three other abuse of power charges linked to the Jana Wibawa programme.
Defence seeks acquittal
In response, Muhyiddin’s defence counsel, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, urged the court to acquit his client of all four charges, saying it was clear that the prosecution was no longer interested in pursuing them.
“Today is probably the second last day of the trial, and not a single shred of evidence was produced and no witness statements served on us by the prosecution in respect of these four charges,” he said.
He said the prosecution had also failed to provide “cogent reasons” for seeking a DNAA, arguing that the law required strong reasons to be given.
“Otherwise, the court has no choice whatsoever but to grant a discharge amounting to an acquittal,” he said.
Muhyiddin hopes remaining charges will be dropped
Speaking outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Muhyiddin said he was relieved by the acquittal and hoped the remaining charges against him would also be dropped.
“I would like to thank God for this. I am relieved. As I have always said, I did not do anything wrong,” he said.
“I hope the other charges will be dropped too.”
The prosecution is nearing the close of its case against Muhyiddin over three other abuse of power charges linked to the Jana Wibawa programme.
In that case, he is accused of abusing his position to solicit RM25.3 million in bribes from Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, KCJ Engineering Sdn Bhd and its managing director, Azman Yusoff.
