Ex-Malaysian PM acquitted of 4 corruption charges

Bangkok, Aug 15 (EFE).- Malaysia’s High Court of Malaysia acquitted former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday of four crimes of power abuse, though he still faces three more accusations of money laundering, state news agency Bernama reported.

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin acquitted Yassin after members of the court said the four accusations were “vague, flawed and unfounded” by failing to provide details of the crimes committed, according to Bernama.

The four crimes of abuse of power, of which he was accused in March, are related to projects valued at MYR232.5 million ($50.2 million), granted during his brief 17-month government from March 2020 to August 2021.

“I did not commit any crime from the perspective of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission laws or any other law, and it has been proven in today’s decision. It is clear to the public what some parties have done to persecute me,” he told local outlet Free Malaysia Today.

The 76-year-old former president cannot leave the country as accusations of three other crimes of money laundering for a total amount of MYR200 million are pending resolution.

In recent months Yassin has emerged as the most visible figure in opposition to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, from the reformist-liberal Pakatan Harapan faction, which defeated Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional coalition in November’s elections.

Yassin’s brief detention in March made him the second former leader to be arrested for corruption in Malaysia, where former Prime Minister Najib Razak was sentenced in August 2022 to 12 years in prison for the 1MDB state fund case, one of the world’s biggest corruption cases that involved Goldman Sachs. EFE

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