KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) has confirmed that the prosecution has filed an appeal against the decision of the High Court here today, which acquitted and discharged the president of Bersatu, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin of four charges of using his position for soliciting bribes amounting to RM232.5 million for the party.
Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun confirmed that the appeal was filed today.
"The prosecution also wants to clarify that the decision made (to dismiss the charges) by the court today only pertains to the four charges under Section 23 of the MACC Act.
"For the remaining three charges under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 against Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the trial continues and the mention date at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court is Sept 19, 2023," he said in a statement today.
High Court Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin ruled that the charges faced by Muhyiddin be dismissed, and the Pagoh member of parliament was released and acquitted of all four charges against him.
Muhammad Jamil, in his judgement, found that all four charges were defective, unsubstantiated, and vague.
He was satisfied that the charges faced by Muhyiddin did not disclose the details of the offences committed, preventing the accused from providing further instructions to his representing lawyer.
The court concluded that continuing the trial would hinder Muhyiddin from preparing a proper defence and would render the prosecution against him an abuse of the court process.
On March 10, Muhyiddin, 76, was charged in the capital city on six counts; four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totaling RM232.5 million and two counts of money laundering involving RM195 million.
For the abuse of power charges, Muhyiddin was accused of using his position for gratification, namely a sum of RM200 million from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd for the benefit of his political party, Bersatu.
He was also charged with using his position to receive a gratification of RM1 million from Nepturis Sdn Bhd, again for the benefit of the party.
For the third charge, he was accused of using his position to receive gratification, namely a sum of RM19.5 million from Mamfor Sdn Bhd for the benefit of his party.
As for the fourth charge, the accused was alleged to have used his position for gratification, namely a sum of RM12 million for the benefit of his party from Datuk Azman Yusoff.
All these offences were allegedly committed at the Prime Minister's Office, Main Block, Perdana Putra Building, Federal Government Administrative Center, in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, between March 1, 2020, and Aug 20, 2021.
The prosecution was carried out under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which can be punished under Section 24(1) of the same act.
This section provides for a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the gratification that is the subject of the offence, if the gratification can be valued in money terms, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.