Malaysia's former PM Muhyiddin Yassin pleads not guilty to abuse of power, money laundering
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he was the victim of a politically motivated legal attack after he was charged Friday with soliciting bribes and laundering tens of millions of dollars, allegations which could see him jailed.
Prosecutors on Friday said Muhyiddin allegedly received a total of 427.5 million ringgit (US$94.5 million) in bribes and illicit funds between 2020 and 2022, when his Bersatu party was a key component of the ruling political coalition.
Muhyiddin faces four separate charges for abuse of power to solicit bribes on behalf of his party worth a total of 232.5 million ringgit, and another two charges for money laundering involving a total of 195 million ringgit.
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He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years' jail and a fine of five times the value of the bribe for each charge of abuse of power, and a penalty of up to 5 million ringgit and up to five years' jail for money laundering.
A defiant Muhyiddin said the charges were a political ploy to "destroy me, my family and my party". Bersatu has previously had its assets frozen.
"I have been involved in fighting corruption, abuse of power. So what happened now is political persecution," he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur court complex.
"We go to court and let the court decide. I'm innocent until proven guilty," he said.
In an immediate reaction, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) slammed the accusation, saying it had tarnished its reputation. "The investigation process is free from interference of any party," it said.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who edged Muhyiddin after November elections to form an administration, has promised a clean government and a crackdown on the blatant abuse of power and corruption that had plagued past administrations.
Experts say the charges against Muhyiddin and freezing the accounts of his Bersatu party may slow their momentum heading into elections that are expected to be called in six states later this year.
Anwar and his coalition partners have struggled to secure support among the majority Malay-Muslims, who voted overwhelmingly for Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance in Malay belt states in the November national polls.
On Friday, Muhyiddin was released on 2 million ringgit (US$440,000) bail, double the amount that disgraced former premier Najib Razak was ordered to post when he was first charged in 2018 for similar offences linked to a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB.
Muhyiddin follows Najib to become the country's second former prime minister to face criminal charges.
In December, the MACC launched a probe into alleged misappropriation of public money after Prime Minister Anwar ordered a review of billions of dollars in state spending under a series of stimulus packages rolled out during Muhyiddin's reign.
Before Muhyiddin's case, the MACC had earlier charged two leaders from his Bersatu party for corruption in connection with the Jana Wibawa programme.
The two leaders - Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan and a party branch deputy head - were charged for allegedly soliciting bribes to assist prospective contractors land multi million ringgit infrastructure projects.
Separately, Bersatu treasurer Mohd Salleh Bajuri was released on bail last Friday after being detained for nearly a week by the MACC as part of their investigations into alleged transfers of public funds into the party's accounts.
This followed the MACC's decision in January to freeze the party accounts after Anwar said the finance ministry - which he also leads - had found a breach in procedure in the handling of billions of ringgit in public funds.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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