The 73-year-old president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which is part of the ruling government, had previously pleaded not guilty to all 47 charges – 12 counts of criminal breach of trust, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to the charitable foundation of which Zahid is a trustee and sole signatory for cheques.
The discharge not amounting to an acquittal granted in September 2023 had allowed prosecutors to revive the case should fresh evidence emerge.
Following the AGC’s decision on Thursday, Zahid’s lead defence counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said that an application would be filed to convert the discharge not amounting to an acquittal into a discharge amounting to an acquittal.
“We will soon be filing an application in the Court of Appeal to obtain the DAA (discharge amounting to an acquittal),” he told Free Malaysia Today.
According to Malay Mail, the latest decision by the AGC means that the deputy prime minister now has no remaining criminal cases, following his earlier acquittal in a separate corruption trial involving 40 charges related to the foreign visa system.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail defended the AGC’s move, saying that it had acted within the law.
“Any decision made, I believe is made within the legal framework and based on powers conferred by the Constitution,” he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times on Thursday, referring to Article 145 of the Federal Constitution which empowers the Attorney-General to decide on whether a case should be prosecuted.
However, the decision has drawn criticism from within the ruling coalition.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) legal bureau chairman Ramkarpal Singh said that the AGC’s move to classify the case as “No Further Action” undermines public confidence and raises serious questions about the transparency of its investigations and decision making process.
“With respect, this is not a case in which no findings were made,” said Singh, a former deputy law minister, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-zahid-hamidi-nfa-corruption-yayasan-akalbudi-acquitted-umno-5848081
