Musa
KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman said some individuals and politicians continued to spread slanderous accusations against him in the mainstream and social media.
Musa said these people were perhaps still unhappy with the legal outcome of his case because it is not aligned with their political narratives, and as such, have conveniently created a diversion in a continued attempt to tarnish his name.
“The tactic used is none other than questioning the outcome of court case, of which I have been acquitted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on June 9, 2020.
“Perhaps those in question may lack an understanding of the legal process and are unaware of the supporting facts and truths involving my case,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Musa added perhaps there are some who pretend not to know the chronology of events and facts that led to his acquittal.
As such, he is compelled to state the facts, uphold the truth and deny all of the unfounded allegations.
“As an individual who does not hold any posts at the State or Federal level, I am making this statement without any vested interest or political agenda.
“Investigation revealed that no offence had been committed.
“At the onset, it must be pointed out that this case is an old one based on allegations that had happened over 16 years ago, where the facts of the case have already been thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities in Malaysia as well as in Hong Kong. The outcome of the investigations by both countries, which took nearly three years, found that I have not committed any offence,” said Musa in his statement.
To gain a better understanding of the case, the following are the facts as stated in court.
“The issue of the investigation premised on baseless allegations of corruption made against me when I was the Chief Minister of Sabah, is public knowledge. I was investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption Hong Kong (ICAC) and also the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from 2008 until 2011. I gave my full cooperation to both agencies. During the investigations by both the ICAC and MACC, the parties have cooperated and communicated with each other and conducted their respective investigations independently and professionally.
“After a thorough investigation, MACC found that no corruption was committed and that the funds investigated were in fact political donations. This was verified by the former MACC Investigation Division Director, Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, and this outcome was then communicated to ICAC via a letter dated September, 2011,” he said.
Musa added that ICAC had also carried out their own independent investigation.” “After completing its investigation the ICAC issued a letter dated December 22, 2011, which stated that the investigation was completed and no further action will be taken against me. The ICAC’s findings clearly shows that I was not involved in any corrupt activities and up to this day there are no further investigation initiated by ICAC against me,” he said.
Similarly based on the outcome of the investigation by the MACC, he said the Attorney General’s Chambers found no element of corrupt practices or money laundering activities on his (Musa) part.
“The outcome of the MACC’s investigation and the decision not to take any action against me were made known by, among others, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, former Attorney General; Dato’ Seri Tun Abd Majid bin Dato’ Haji Tun Hamzah, former Prosecution Division Head; Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohammad, former MACC Chief Commissioner and Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, former MACC Investigation Division Director.
“The MACC Operation Assessment Panel also concurred with the decision based on the findings of the investigation. This clearly proves that the decision was duly deliberated and made in accordance with the proper legal channels,” he said.
“The case in question was also raised in Parliament whereby Dato’ Seri Nazri Aziz explained that the Attorney General’s Chambers have concluded that no corrupt element has been proven against me. The contributions received are meant for Sabah Umno and not for personal purposes. All investigations and the legal processes have been complied and it supported only one conclusion, which was I did not at any time solicit or received any form of bribery,” he said.
In the lengthy statement, Musa also said after the 14th General Elections in May 2018, he and fellow State Legislative Assemblymen were given the mandate by the people of Sabah to become their new chosen government.
“I had been given the trust and was appointed as the rightful Sabah Chief Minister by Tuan Yang Terutama Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah (TYT).
“After the new government held its first cabinet meeting and less then 48 hours later, the TYT for reasons only known to him appointed Shafie Apdal as the new Sabah Chief Minister replacing me. This was done even though I did not resign and still commanded the majority of support in the Sabah Legislative Assembly back then.
“As many are aware, I have disputed TYT’s actions and challenged the validity of the appointment of Shafie Apdal as then new Sabah Chief Minister in the Sabah High Court.
“Despite having been cleared of any offence by ICAC and MACC back then, much time had passed when suddenly and without any reason the authorities arrested and charged me in court on November 5, 2018.
This incidentally was only two days prior to the announcement of the decision with regards to my civil case against the TYT and Shafie Apdal.
“This action had given political leverage to my political rivals directly and indirectly. Does this not indicate that the charges brought against me were made in bad faith and reeked of political persecution?”
After consulting his lawyers, based on the principle of truth requires courage (berani kerana benar), Musa said he filed two applications at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. The first application was to strike out the charges against him (Kuala Lumpur High Court Criminal Application No. WA-44-46-02/2020) while the second application was an application to refer certain Constitutional questions to the Federal Court (Kuala Lumpur High Court Criminal Application No. WA-44-47-02/2020).
The application to strike out the charges was filed on February 12, 2020 (when the Malaysian government was still under Pakatan Harapan) with a supporting affidavit that spelt out all the relevant facts.
To support the application, Musa said he adduced all relevant and important documents in the supporting affidavit including documents from ICAC in Hong Kong.
“Furthermore my lawyers had also filed a further supporting affidavit affirmed by the former Attorney General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani bin Patail.
“I had raised the issues of political and mala fide prosecution, which is an abuse of the legal process. If the prosecution had continued with the charges, it may expose the Government to a ‘malicious prosecution’ legal suit,” he said.
He said this fact is further strengthened when the Deputy Public Prosecutor issued a statement of favourable fact to the defence under Section 51(A)(1)(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code confirming the decision made by Gani Patail.
“There were no new facts or issues brought up by the prosecution team. The prosecution in November 2018 relied solely on the previous investigations, conducted by ICAC and MACC which had cleared me of any offence.
“From the legal stand point, it must be emphasized that a decision made by the Attorney General as public prosecutor must not be taken lightly and should not be changed without any cogent reason. This is simply so as the prosecution in 2018 simply relied on the facts of the investigation conducted by ICAC and MACC earlier, which did not reveal any element of corruption,” he said.
Based on the reasons given in the striking out application, Musa said he was sure the Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun together with the other Deputy Public Prosecutors (DPPs) had deliberated and considered the application seriously, objectively and professionally having due consideration to the law and justice of the case.
“Having deliberated on the matter the prosecution informed the High Court on June 9, 2020 that they are withdrawing all charges and will discontinue the prosecution against me pursuant to Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The presiding High Court Judge Dato’ Muhammad Jamil bin Hussin, having listened to the submissions by both parties and deliberated the relevant provisions of the law, proceeded to make an order for my discharge and acquittal from all charges.
“I pray that no person needs to go through and be subjected to such unfair treatment for political expediency. Neither should anyone continue to be the victim of baseless accusations and political vendetta having been cleared of any wrongdoing for the second time.
“With these clear facts, are they all blind, fools or simply being a hypocrite? I know they are not blind and am very sure they are not fools.
“I would like to emphasize again that I have been investigated and cleared of these allegations a decade ago and have once again been forced to go through the due process for the second time in which I have consistently proven my case and in turn successful in clearing my name.
“I have taken this entire experience as a test and had to weather this storm with patience and faith. Faith in my innocence and faith with God the Almighty.
“Perhaps with the enormous challenge that the nation is facing today especially with regards to overcoming the Covid-19 crisis, my detractors should focus their energy and time in finding real solutions and contribute to overcome the surmounting problems associated with the pandemic instead of this continuous political lynching against me.
“Allah has stated that there will be no barriers between Him and those who have either been slandered or victimized and promised that their prayers will be answered,” said Musa who ended his statement by stating, “truth requires courage and truth has once again prevailed.