FOURTY-NINE civil society groups have appealed to the government for the rule of law to prevail in high-profile court cases involving politicians charged with graft.

In a press conference today, elections watchdog Bersih urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to walk the talk on good governance and not allow any politician hit with graft to be given a discharge not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) as received by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said recently appointed Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Saleh should allow the judiciary to process the cases of politicians charged with corruption without the him exercising his discretionary powers to discontinue any court proceedings under article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution.

“The DNAA involving Zahid in his Yayasan Akalbudi case on September 4 is a shocking example of the discretionary powers of the AG who doubles up as the public prosecutor (PP) under the current law. 

“Apart from Zahid’s case, there has been a slew of other corruption cases in the past several years involving politicians or those closely connected with them in which they were given a DNAA or were totally acquitted. 

“These usually happened after a change of government or allegiance, and as such, it sends the message that one’s innocence is closely tied to one’s power. This cannot go on.

“The AG should not double up as the PP and reforms to separate the role of the PP from the AG must happen so that the PP is an independent office that is free from political interference,” Fann said today.

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

The prime minister said he had requested that Idris state his reasons for granting Zahid a DNAA and denied interfering on the matter.

Fann said following Zahid’s discharge, the public are now concerned over Najib Razak’s three remaining cases related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as well as his wife Rosmah Mansor’s money laundering cases.

“Will the former PM and his wife similarly be released of their corruption charges, and in the case of Najib, to pave the way for his pardon in the SRC case?

“If Najib and Rosmah can walk free – as if they were victims of selective prosecution after their crime in the 1MDB scandal brought our country to the brink of financial collapse –Malaysia would reappear as a pariah economy without rule of law, driving global investors away,” he said.

“The seven mission targets in the Madani Economy Framework would be just pipe dreams. Malaysians across the political spectrum continued to reject corruption in GE15 as the two main coalitions that campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), won 68% of votes combined. 

“Anwar Ibrahim and PH owe their power to the public wrath against corruption,” he added.

Fann then warned the government that if the new AG were to withdraw all charges against Najib and Rosmah in their ongoing trials, the Madani government will be held accountable for allowing the AG’s colossal power to be abused.

“This would be the red line that Anwar must not cross to cause political and economic catastrophes to Malaysia,” he said. – October 5, 2023.