KUALA LUMPUR, September 20 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated that he did not interfere in the decision regarding the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) of UMNO President Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on 47 charges involving criminal breach of trust, corruption, and money laundering related to the funds of Yayasan Akalbudi. Anwar stated that there was no meeting involving him and Tan Sri Idrus Harun; he merely asked the Attorney General at that time for an explanation about the decision taken.
He emphasized that the decision ultimately rested with the Attorney General’s discretion. The Attorney General’s unchallengeable discretion is a well-established legal principle that has been consistently decided in the highest courts in this country, such as Long bin Samat v. PP [1974] 2 MLJ 152 and Johnson Tan Han Seng V. PP [1977] 2 MLJ 66, Public Prosecutor v Zainuddin & Anor [1986] 2 MLJ 100, and Karpal Singh & Anor Public Prosecutor [1991] 2 MLJ 544,” he said during the wrap-up session of the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan (MR12) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.
On September 4, Ahmad Zahid was discharged not amounting to acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 47 charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering (AMLA) related to Yayasan Akalbudi funds. Anwar, who is the Member of Parliament for Tambun, stated that it was not the first time that charges were dropped after a prima facie case was established. There have been precedents when prosecution cases were terminated after a prima facie case was successfully established against the accused.
And the accused was ordered to enter a defense in court, including the case of the Public Prosecutor v. Siti Aisyah & Doan Thi Huong (the murder case of Kim Jong Nam). In that case, the accused named Siti Aisyah was given a DNAA by the Shah Alam High Court on March 11, 2019, after a prosecution application to terminate the case against her was made,” he said. Anwar further explained that he chose to address the issue of the DNAA because many Members of Parliament requested an explanation from him on the matter.
“It does not satisfy everyone because they state that this is a new matter as if the Prime Minister intervened. When the Attorney General makes a decision, I asked him for the reason. That’s why the Attorney General provided 11 explanations,” he clarified. Anwar had previously emphasized multiple times that he did not interfere in the DNAA issue involving Ahmad Zahid because it falls under the Attorney General’s discretion.
