KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been discharged and acquitted on all four charges of abuse of power linked to Jana Wibawa programme.
High Court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin struck out the case, ruling that all four charges were defective and in bad faith.
The judgement was made on two grounds - lack of details in the charges, and the accused was charged on offenses unknown to the law.
For the grounds of insufficient details in the charges, he said that the four charges did not contain details of how the offenses were committed as stipulated under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
In his opinion, in Section 23(1) of the MACC Act read together with Section 23(2) of the same Act, abuse of power for a bribe is about the accused making a decision or taking action regarding a matter.
"In the case of the public prosecutor versus former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the offense under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act stated the details of the offense committed, which is to have been involved in a decision on behalf of the Malaysian government regarding a matter, he said.
"This is different from the four charges where it does not state at all how the offense was committed, whether the applicant made a decision or took action and in relation to which matter.
"I disagree with the prosecution that how the applicant used his position does not need to be stated in the charges but can be proven through testimony during the trial.
"The four charges are vague, the applicant is confused.
"The applicant does not know which one, is he making a decision or taking action and in relation to which (matter). The applicant should not be left to speculate," he said.
He also said that Muhyiddin was charged on offenses unknown to the law.
He said that the four charges were flawed for not disclosing an offense under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act.
"The applicant states that Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) as a registered society (pertubuhan) registered under Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966, should not be interpreted as affiliate (sekutu) as per the definition of Section 3 of the MACC Act as any organisations.
"The argument is that whether the society registered under the Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966 is considered an affiliate (sekutu) as per the definition of Section 3 of the MACC Act.
"The MACC Act uses organisations and societies separately, hence an organisation is not included as a society," said Muhammad Jamil.
Bersatu is a non-affiliated society as defined under Section 3 of the MACC Act.
"The four charges which stated bribery for its affiliate Bersatu did not reveal any offense under the Section 23(1) of the MACC Act.
"It is clear to me that the accused was charged with an offense unknown to the law," he said.
Chants of Allahuakbar echoed in the courtroom after the judgement was read out.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin led the prosecution while the defense team was headed by senior lawyer Datuk Hisyam Teh Pok Teik.
Also present at court today were opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and Perikatan Nasional (PN) information chief Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Muhyiddin was charged with four counts of using his position as the Prime Minister and Bersatu president to ask RM200 million as a bribe from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd at the Prime Minister's Department Complex, Federal Government Administrative Centre, Putrajaya between February 8 till 25, 2021.
He was also accused of committing the same offence at the same location, by asking RM32.5 million from Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd and Azman Yusoff for a bribe for the party between March 1 to August, 2020.
The four charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 which carries a maximum 20 years of jail time, or a fine of five times the value of the money solicited, or RM10,000, whichever higher.
Separately, the Pagoh member of parliament was charged with two counts of receiving RM195 million funds, that were proceeds from unlawful activities between February 25 and July 16, 2021 and February 8 till July 8 last year.
The funds were credited into the party's CIMB bank account. He was accused of committing the offense at the CIMB Bank KL Tower branch, Jalan Stesen Sentral, here.
He was also charged with one more count of receiving RM5 million funds, from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, that were proceeds from unlawful activities on Jan 7 last year.
The funds were credited into the party's Ambank bank account. He was accused of committing the offence at the Ambank Amcorp Mall branch, Jalan Persiaran Barat, Petaling Jaya, here.
The charge is framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The offence under AMLATFPUAA carries a jail term not exceeding 15 years' and a fine of at least five times the sum obtained from money laundering or RM5 million, whichever is higher, upon conviction.