PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Attorney-General Terrirudin Mohd Saleh must impose a moratorium on any application for discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for graft cases involving politicians or those closely connected with them, polls watchdog Bersih said.

Its chairman Thomas Fann said the moratorium should be in place until the government separates the roles of the attorney-general and public prosecutor. 

He said at present the attorney-general is also the public prosecutor, leading many to question the independence of both the offices.

“We urge the government to expedite and declare the end of 2024 as the timeline for the AG-PP separation that has been announced by de facto law minister Azalina Othman Said on September 18.

“This reform is crucial to protect the integrity of the legal institution from political influence and to uphold the rule of law,” Fann said.

In September, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allowed the prosecution’s application to grant Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi a DNAA on his 47 criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering charges related to Yayasan Akalbudi funds.

The prosecution said it wanted to halt proceedings to allow for an in-depth investigation.

Anwar later told the Dewan Rakyat that the decision to withdraw the corruption charges against Zahid was made by the previous attorney-general Idris Harun.

Fann also urged Putrajaya to reopen DNAA cases of politicians charged with corruption, adding that the court must be allowed to determine the guilt or innocence of those charged based on evidence presented.

He said there should not be any withdrawal on all ongoing appeals as in the case of Najib Razak and Arul Kandasamy’s 1MDB report tampering trial.

“The Malaysian public expects strong political will from Anwar to combat systemic corruption and uphold the rule of law, which must include allowing Najib, Zahid and others to be tried without interference.

“Our request and the expectations of the Malaysian public are simple – we want the rule of law. This is necessary for political stability that will enable the unity government of Anwar Ibrahim to serve a full term.

“Above all, we want a clean government that deals with systemic corruption in our country so that no political parties and politicians dare amass wealth through power abuse.” – October 5, 2023.