KUALA LUMPUR: On Saturday, September 16, hundreds of people staged an anti-government rally in Kuala Lumpur, accusing Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of assisting his vital ally in avoiding prosecutors in exchange for political help.
Later in his trial, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi‘s 47 corruption charges were surprisingly dropped by the prosecution on September 4. Ahmad Zahid & nbsp can be recharged because the court rejected his request for dismissal but did not grant him a full exoneration.
Loudspeakers in front of the audience on Saturday claimed that Anwar’s government had interfered with the case in order to absolve Ahmad Zahid of responsibility in exchange for political support.
Some participants in the opposition-backed protest wore white tops with the slogan” Fight Corruption” written on them. They marched through the city’s center while yelling” Charge Zahid ,”” Reform is dead ,” and” Down with Anwar.”
The accusations against Ahmad Zahid were dropped because, according to rebel Muhamed Yahya, there was a” hidden finger at work.”
They made use of the rear door, he said.
According to the prosecution, Ahmad Zahid’s circumstance was temporarily put on hold because more research was required. Anwar has claimed that the decision was made by former attorney general Idrus Harun only before he retired and denied meddling in the case.
The dismissal of the claims has prompted fresh calls for reforms that would distinguish between the attorney general’s functions as the public prosecutor and the legal counsel for the government.
The United Malays National Organization ( UMO) is led by Ahmad Zahid, and his party’s backing has been crucial in assisting Anwar in creating a unity government following the hung Parliament that resulted from the general election in November. Given the Anwar president’s anti-corruption approach, the termination of the charges sparked fresh criticism.
Anwar’s state broke a lot of promises, according to rebel Zolazrai Zolkapli.
” All of their claims were rests. We come around to show our support for the march after being duped by their advertising and statement, he said.
Police did not put an end to the protest, which ended amicably after numerous hours despite the fact that they had declared the gathering illegal because no permission had been granted to keep it.
After UMNO lost control, Ahmad Zahid was imprisoned on graft costs in 2018. He was accused of 12 counts of unlawful breach of trust, 27 charges of money laundering, and 8 counts for corruption involving more than 31 million rupiah( US$ 6.7 million ) from his household foundation.
According to the prosecution, funds meant for charity were improperly used for his private expenses, such as shopping and the payment of his credit accounts. In his situation, more than 110 witnesses have provided testimony.