KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 15): The High Court has granted a stay of proceedings to the prosecution in former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s money-laundering case, pending an appeal in the Court of Appeal over the striking out of the abuse of power charges against him.

Judge Azura Alwi, in a brief decision in the Sessions Court here, said that after hearing oral arguments from the prosecution and defence as well as written submissions on both ends, she allowed the prosecution's application until the prosecution's appeals are disposed of.

“The court has observed that this is a situation that requires an urgent judicial decision, and it is necessary that a stay be granted for the fairness of all parties,” she said.

She said that the stay will also avoid this case before her from being disrupted, as there are other applications to be dealt with.

She then set March 4 for case mention to update her on the Court of Appeal’s decision.

The appeal is set for Feb 28 in the Court of Appeal. The prosecution is appealing against a decision of the High Court to strike out Muhyiddin’s abuse of power case.

In the prosecution's application to seek a stay of proceedings for the three money-laundering charges against Muhyiddin in the Sessions Court, they cited that they were awaiting the outcome of the prosecution’s appeal over the abuse of power charges. The prosecution cited that there is public interest and compelling reasons for the court to grant an urgent reason to stay the proceedings.

Muhyiddin is also seeking that the Sessions Court set aside or dismiss the three money-laundering charges, but now that the stay is granted, this application is also on hold until the prosecution's appeals are dealt with.

The three charges are framed under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Earlier, Muhyiddin’s lawyer Chetan Jethwani asked that the judge deal with the application to set aside the charges first, while the prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin, argued that the stay application should be dealt with first.

Azura then said that she would deal with the stay application first.

On Aug 15, 2023, High Court judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin allowed Muhyiddin’s application to strike out the four abuse of power charges, as he ruled that the prosecution did not clearly disclose any offence.

“The charges are defective, and I am using my power to strike out the charges, as there was an abuse of [the court] process,” Jamil said.

He said that the charges did not follow the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, because they did not stipulate how the alleged offences were committed, and whether Muhyiddin had sat in a meeting or influenced a decision to allegedly receive the RM232.5 million he was charged with taking.

The prosecution, Jamil added, indicated that the details will come out during the course of the trial.

However, the judge said no details of the offences were highlighted, as the charges did not stipulate how they were committed and what they relate to.

Jamil said that to his understanding, these factors resulted in injustice, as the defence was not able to prepare its case, as the requirements of Sections 152 and 153 of the Criminal Procedure Code had not been fulfilled.

“This creates a confusion, as there is no proper notice of what he is accused with — the way the offences were committed. This has resulted in a mistake and failure in proper procedures. The court finds the charges to be defective, and this court considers this [to be] an abuse of the court process,” he said, adding that the court was using its inherent jurisdiction to allow the striking out of the four abuse of power charges.

Following that, Jamil further ordered the discharge and acquittal of Muhyiddin in the abuse of power case.

Muhyiddin, 76, is charged with his party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia for allegedly receiving RM232.5 million in bribes from corporate entities and one individual between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021, in his capacity as the then prime minister and Bersatu president.

The charges allege that the money was deposited into Bersatu’s bank accounts from Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, Mamfor Sdn Bhd, and Datuk Azman Yusoff.