Former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stands at a crucial crossroad in his legal battle, seeking the attention of a five-member Court of Appeal (CoA) panel to weigh his final plea for the reinstatement of his discharge and acquittal (DAA) regarding four charges of abuse of power intertwined with the Jana Wibawa saga.
In the arena of justice, Muhyiddin, representing Pagoh, raised this plea during today's procedural discourse. The court, in its wisdom, instructed Muhyiddin's legal team to pen their request to the esteemed appellate court president, Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim. Marking July 9 as the designated day for deliberation, the court pledges to engage with both the prosecution's preliminary objections and the substantive matters concerning the case.
A symphony of legal timelines unfolds as the prosecution, akin to a chess player, must lay down their affidavit by April 26, while Muhyiddin's rebuttal to their stance is due before May 10.
Confirming this intricate legal dance, Muhyiddin's counsel, Datuk Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, affirms the strategic moves made in the legal chessboard.
At the heart of this legal saga lies the venerable figure of the 76-year-old Bersatu president, challenging the previous pronouncement by CoA Justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk Azmi Ariffin, and Datuk S.M Komathy Suppiah. On the fateful day of February 28, these justices paved the way for the prosecution to resurrect the four charges of power abuse, directing the case back to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.
The tendrils of legal argumentation delve into the depths of the Jana Wibawa narrative, a program intertwined with Muhyiddin's tenure. Last year's legal tides saw Muhyiddin basking in the light of acquittal, as a High Court judge, on August 15, deemed the charges defective and tainted with bad faith, setting him free from their clutches.
The chapters of legal contention began unfolding on March 10 of the same year when Muhyiddin found himself tethered to four counts of leveraging his positions as Prime Minister and Bersatu president to procure bribes totaling RM232.5 million from entities such as Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff, all in the name of his party. These purported transgressions allegedly occurred within the hallowed halls of the Prime Minister's Office, nestled in the Federal Government Administrative Centre in Putrajaya, between the temporal confines of March 1, 2020, and August 20, 2021.
Fast forward to April 18, Muhyiddin, donning the hat of Perikatan Nasional chairman, made a bold move, filing an application to quash the four charges under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act.
As the legal chessboard awaits the next move, Muhyiddin's fate hangs in the balance, with the Court of Appeal poised to render its verdict in this high-stakes legal drama.
FlyingBird is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.